


The World Isn't Kind

by Destiel_Sabriel4eva



Series: Always Waiting [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adoption, Aftermath of Torture, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Azkaban, Dark Harry Potter, Death Eaters, Empathy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Except for a bit, F/F, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Issues, Friendship, Ghosts, Happy Ending, Hogwarts, House Elves, I promise there are happy moments, I'll add tags as I think of them, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Kinda, M/M, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Recovery, Second War with Voldemort, The Author Regrets Nothing, Torture, Transgender, again Dumbledore is a dick but he's trying, but also kinda, but not really, not everybody lives but a bunch of people do, not the book the people, you'll get it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 46
Words: 234,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23977942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Destiel_Sabriel4eva/pseuds/Destiel_Sabriel4eva
Summary: Harry's done. So, done. He's tried so hard despite everything that's happened, but Sirius' death, goes too far. Who was he kidding? The world has never been kind. Harry makes the decision to teach this lesson to the one person all of his hardships trace back to. Albus Dumbledore. Part of the 'Always Waiting' Series (Following on from The Boy Who Never Cried Wolf)
Series: Always Waiting [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/943140
Comments: 13
Kudos: 68





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter.  
> NOTE: Sirius was not pronounced innocent after his death in this series simply because that never made sense to me, like, why do they suddenly believe this just because he died and gave them yet another thing to deal with? If anyone has an actual answer to that question, I’d appreciate a message or review explaining it, but regardless, in this it’s believed that he’s guilty and was killed fighting for the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries, not for the ‘good guys’. Also, Lucius Malfoy and the other Death Eaters escaped unless their name is specifically stated as having been arrested. Anyways, MOVING ON!

The World Isn’t Kind

The world isn’t kind. 

Harry learnt this at a very young age. 

The world isn’t kind. 

His relatives beat him, starved him, called him a freak. 

The world isn’t kind. 

Sixteen years later, Harry is once again taught this lesson. He vows the next time this lesson is taught, he will be the one teaching it. He'll teach it to them all. Why you may ask?

Because,

The World Isn't Kind.

_A red spell, a mystical arch, Remus_ _’_ _arms wrapped around him, holding him back, he lets go, Harry runs._

_Laughter, everywhere, laughter._ _“_ _Come out, come out, little Harry!_ _”_

_“_ _CRUCIO!_ _”_ _It doesn_ _’_ _t work, nothing ever works. He lost him, he loses everyone. He can_ _’_ _t, not again._

_“_ _A time will come, Potter_ _…_ _Make it worth all of this in the end._ _”_

Sirius is dead. This is the thought that is stuck on loop in Harry’s head. Sirius is dead. It’s all he can think about. Remus’ words as stuck in his head as that thought, ‘sometimes the world isn’t kind’ he’d said.

Harry’s life has always been hell, but he has never known the pain of losing someone you love. He never had someone to love him, nor for him to love. He has never had someone teach him right or wrong, never had someone to guide him. All he had had was a cupboard, and many painful years spent learning how to stay out of it. Then he met Cedric and Cedric had loved him. All for nought in the end. Sirius too had cared, had taught him that no one’s born evil, taught him that sometimes you have to keep the people you love away to keep them safe, and also that sometimes that’s total hogswash. Sirius had been everything he had needed and so much more, but now he is gone. 

Harry thought he would blame Bellatrix, she is the one who killed him. Or perhaps Voldemort for ordering her to be there. Maybe Lucius for being the one to lead the charge. His friends or himself for not being able to stop it? Hell, even Snape for not letting him know that Sirius was safe. But no, he doesn’t blame any of them, not even himself. He blames no one because he knows something in his heart that is a lot stronger than blame. The world isn’t kind. He knows that bad stuff happens to everyone because sometimes bad stuff just happens.

When he was eleven he had been brought into the wizarding world, the first good thing to happen in his life that wasn’t later taken away. Then he had nearly been killed every year since, his friends had nearly been killed, and the last two years someone he cared about had died right in front of him. All because the world isn’t kind. He ponders this for a while and comes to a conclusion. If the world isn’t kind, then why should he have to be? No, he shouldn’t have to be, he can’t be anymore. So many people have wronged him, so much bad stuff has happened, and he didn’t do anything, he _couldn_ _’_ _t_ do anything, because the _world_ isn’t _kind_. 

Now it is his turn to teach people that, and he’ll start with the person who was supposed to protect him, who should have protected his Aunt and Uncle, should have saved him so many times, should have protected the school, the students, and Sirius. Because really, everything is his fault, every damned thing that’s happened to Harry leads back to him. Yes, that is what will happen, Dumbledore is going to die. And not only will Harry kill him, he’ll also destroy the man’s belief that the world can be kind, that people can be. He’ll destroy the man’s hope and take his entire world down around him, he’ll decimate the war the old man cared so much about. Harry will destroy it all, and then, he’ll destroy him.

The world isn’t kind.


	2. Harder to Breathe

Chapter 1 – Harder to Breathe

Note: Chapter Title from Molly Kate Kestner’s song ‘Harder to Breathe’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

_Last time,_

_Harry will destroy it all, and then he_ _’_ _ll destroy him._

_The world isn_ _’_ _t kind._

Now,

Harry sits on his bed, thinking about his plans, about how he’s going to destroy the man who destroyed him, when he hears a screeching at his window and looks up to see Hedwig trying to get in. He gets up and opens the window for her to fly through.

“Hey girl, I didn’t even notice you leave,” He admits as he notices the letter attached to the owl’s foot, “What’s this?” He, rather pointlessly, asks. Truly, as much as he loves Hedwig, she’s an owl, she can’t speak, so he’s basically just talking to air. He shakes his head at his own train of thought as he opens the letter.

_~~Harry~~ _ _Potter,_

_I was sorry to hear about your god-father. I know that that probably doesn_ _’_ _t help, and you probably don_ _’_ _t care about anything I have to say, but given my father_ _’_ _s involvement in his death I felt the need to say it anyway._

_This doesn_ _’_ _t mean I like you or that we are no longer enemies. But, even though I shouldn_ _’_ _t be telling you this, I needed you to know that Black was never meant to die, it was never the plan. Aunt Bella got over-excited, she was punished for it severely._

_I_ _’_ _d rather you didn_ _’_ _t blame her though, not that I care what you do or don_ _’_ _t do, but, she wasn_ _’_ _t always like this. I_ _’_ _ve never gotten any details, only that a few years before I was born something happened, she hasn_ _’_ _t been the same since. It_ _’_ _s not her fault really, she has her moments of clarity but anything to do with Dumbledore or his followers and she completely loses any sense of sanity._

_I don_ _’_ _t really know why I told you all that but, you have my condolences and, should you ever need to talk, Hedwig knows where to send letters for me._

_Your Nemesis,_

_Draco Malfoy_

“Well that was weird,” Harry says aloud, he looks up to Hedwig and begins to wonder how Malfoy got her in the first place. He pushes the thought away as he reads and rereads the letter a few times. What on Earth possessed Malfoy to write it? He would not have cared about Harry’s feelings, perhaps he was merely defending his father. But why would Malfoy care what Harry thought of his father, or of Bellatrix? Harry rereads the bit about Bellatrix, _moments of sanity_ _…_ _is that what happened in the Atrium? No, the crazy after that was an act, I know it was. Which means something more is going on._ Harry sighs _, fascinating as it is, she isn_ _’_ _t my priority. I said I_ _’_ _d make it worth it and I will. I will make everything that happened there worth it by destroying the man who caused it all, and that_ isn’t _Voldemort._

As he falls asleep that night, he thinks more on the letter, and makes his decision to reply in the morning.

Later that night Harry gasps as he wakes up, sweating and crying, Sirius’s name on his tongue, before he manages to stop himself from screaming. He tries to calm down again, not overly surprised that he had had a nightmare. As he finally relaxes his eyes fall on the letter next to his bed, he gets up and grabs a spare piece of parchment and a pen before beginning to write his reply.

_Malfoy,_

_I don_ _’_ _t really know what to say, I guess I should start with assuring you that I don_ _’_ _t blame your aunt, or your father. I don_ _’_ _t really blame anyone, it happened, getting angry at someone won_ _’_ _t change that._

_I appreciate your condolences, and as for the offer to talk, there is something I could use the chance to say to someone else. It_ _’_ _s not really something I could say to Ron or Hermione._

_I_ _’_ _ve been aware of one thing above all others my whole life and I_ _’_ _ve finally been able to put words to it. The world isn_ _’_ _t kind, it_ _’_ _s that simple. I just, I don_ _’_ _t want to be the only one that I can see learning it anymore. I want to teach it. I want to fight back and punish people and make them feel it too. I want to take someone_ _’_ _s whole world down around them._

_It_ _’_ _s hardly the first time I_ _’_ _ve felt like this, but this time I finally have the power to do so. I guess I just don_ _’_ _t know where to start_ _…_ _you seem like the right sort of wizard, got any pointers?_

_Your amazingly superior nemesis,_

_Harry_

He puts the letter in an envelope and gives it to Hedwig to deliver, not really expecting an answer at least until morning, if ever. Maybe Malfoy will have changed his mind about owling with Harry and realized the first letter was a mistake. Yet just half an hour later Hedwig is back with Malfoy’s reply, making Harry seriously question how close Malfoy is to him. He grabs the letter from Hedwig and unravels it.

_Potter,_

_Only took you five years to realise who the right sort are._

Harry chuckles at that comment as he remembers the rejected handshake.

_I_ _’_ _m gonna do us both a favour and not even touch on why you just accept something so horrid happening to you, and move on._

_Your first step really depends on who the target is, I_ _’_ _m guessing you have someone in mind?_

_Moreover, it_ _’_ _s dependant on whether your intention is to get caught and destroy it all in one big dramatic event, or if you want to slowly make things crumble so that they don_ _’_ _t realize just how much control they have lost until it_ _’_ _s too late. Also, if your endgame is to kill them or watch them live on and suffer._

_I am quite curious on who and how you want to do this. Wasn_ _’_ _t expecting this out of you, Dumbledore_ _’_ _s Golden Boy. It_ _’_ _s a nice change though._

_Your 100% superior nemesis,_

_Draco_

Harry can’t help the smile that ghosts over his face as he reads the signature. He ponders the questions and finds himself thankful that he brought this up with Malfoy. The question is, how much should he tell him? Surely, he wouldn’t care about Dumbledore’s life, but what if he uses the letter against Harry somehow? In the end, Harry decides that he doesn’t care. Even if he does get caught, Dumbledore will know what he was trying to do and realise that his greatest weapon died pointing at the wrong target. Harry reads back over the letter one more time, his eyes drawn to a particular phrase. He snarls at the page.

_Malfoy,_

_I am not Dumbledore_ _’_ _s anything. In fact, he is my target._

_I want to make everything crumble and fall down around him in pieces. I want to drag it out and make him think I_ _’_ _m on his side only for him to realize that the one thing he had left, the one thing he thought he could count on, was against him the whole time. I want him to feel that pain and look me in the eyes when I finally end it. He will regret ever failing me, I want him to know how badly he fucked up before I kill him._

_I want to have some fun before he dies. The last thing he will see is me, smiling triumphantly._

_Your nemesis who is 10x your superiority,_

_Harry_

As he watches Hedwig fly away with his response, he wonders if he really has lost his mind. But the anger that fills him at the mere thought of the great wizard – no not anger, rage – is so strong, he doesn’t much care. The plant his gaze lands on shrivels and dies in a slight green glow.

**Meanwhile at Malfoy Manor** **…**

Draco isn’t sure what made him write the first letter, he was certainly shocked when he got the reply at two thirty in the morning and is glad he had been woken by another of his dreams.

He had been dreaming about what he always dreams about. This blonde girl, blonde like him but her hair goes down to just below her bottom and kind of loosely curls for the bottom half of it. He can never see her face, she wears a lot of black. She wears heeled shoes that look like combat boots but the laces are untied and loose. She has suspenders like muggles wear to hold their trousers up except they aren’t over her shoulders, instead they hang loosely down by her knees. Her top stops just under her breasts and one of the shoulders falls down her arm. She has some weird jewellery on her belly button and weird fishnets on her hands and arms that go to just above her wrists and different material things covering her elbows and part of her forearm and biceps. Sometimes she has small fingerless gloves over her hands as well but not always. She wears different variations on these sorts of outfits, and while he can never properly see her face, he can see that she wears a lot of black makeup around her eyes and either black or dark red lipstick. Although once it was dark blue which he thought looked very pretty, even blurry as it was. It was a nice contrast to her barely visible pale green eyes.

He doesn’t know why he dreams of her, doesn’t know who she is, but he loves her. Not like he is in love with her, and not quite like he loves his father, more the way he feels about Pansy except a lot stronger. She doesn’t appear to be doing much. He’s been dreaming of her for years and, so far, knows that she was or will be a student at Hogwarts. He knows she can’t be now because he’s looked for a student that looks like her. The closest is Luna Lovegood but, based on what he has seen in dreams, he knows it isn’t her.

He has watched this girl doing schoolwork and walking through the corridors of school, he saw her when she wore pigtails and got pushed off playgrounds a lot. He knows she grew up in the muggle world and still lives there. He’s seen her playing games late into the night with two people he knows aren’t her parents but seem to act as them, or did until recently, and he’s watched her cry herself to sleep because of what the world puts her through. When she was a little girl she moved around to different homes and to live with different people a lot. Went to many different schools including Hogwarts. It was only a year before she started at Hogwarts when he dreamed of her moving in with the people she living with up until the beginning of these holidays (or at least, that’s when he had an episode and saw it). Somehow these dreams always wake him up the moment she falls asleep. Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to sleep much, and neither does he.

He was thinking about her, having watched her fall asleep on the couch while crying into a cushion for hours, when the letter arrived. He was understandably shocked by the contents, is Potter going dark?

He debates whether or not he should reply, it must be a trick, right? He decides it is probably a reaction to the grief and he will snap out of it before he goes through with whatever he is planning. For now though, Draco goes along with it, if only to see how far he was willing to go.

That all changes when he gets the second reply.

 _He is my target._ Draco almost can’t breathe after reading that. What could Harry possibly have against the man he appears to worship? Sure, Draco himself hates the man, but Potter? No way.

As he reads on though he can feel Harry’s anger growing, his words written harsher and larger and increasingly jagged. After reading Harry wanting the man to regret failing him, Draco thinks he understands. After all, everything that has ever happened to him can easily be traced back to Dumbledore. It is the last thing he wrote that makes Draco shudder, whether out of fear or delight though, Draco isn’t sure.

_The last thing he will see is me, smiling triumphantly_

Draco can practically hear the words coming from the Dark Lord himself, yet somehow, he easily imagines them from Potter as well. He begins to worry about what he is getting himself into. Eventually, he decides that if Harry truly is going dark, then Draco is going to help.

_Potter,_

_Dumbledore, eh? A worthy opponent you_ _’_ _ve chosen there. Many witches and wizards have tried to take him down; Grindelwald, the Dark Lord himself, are you sure you can?_

_If you want to destroy him then losing his precious saviour is definitely the last thing you should take. First step though, you need to turn as many people quietly against him as you can. You can take each of them from him at the most opportune time as you progress in your plans, but you need to know who_ _’_ _s on your side._

_So far all we know for sure is you and me. If your serious about this, I can ask around, find the people who hate him the most without mentioning your name._

_You should think about whether your allies are only coming from school or adults as well. I would suggest including adults, simply so that you have more people rallying against him. But then we have the difficulty of having them take you seriously when, to them, we_ _’_ _re just kids._

_Where will the weasel and mudblood stand on this?_

_Has it occurred to you that other people are still attempting to achieve this same goal and that you may get in each other_ _’_ _s way? Also, you should make a list of things he holds most dear, Hogwarts, His reputation, His position in the ministry, McGonagall and the other professors, that sort of thing._

_Your nemesis who is 20x more superior than you,_

_Draco_

As Draco hands it to the owl and lets her go, he wonders what the Dark Lord and his father would think if they knew what he is up to.

**Dursley Residence**

Harry receives and reads Draco’s latest message before carefully constructing his reply.

_Draco,_

_Your Dark Lord failed to kill a fifteen-month-old baby, I_ _’_ _m not worried about competition from him._

_That being said, he has more followers and a lot more experience than me, so it would not be wise for me to underestimate him. He_ _’_ _s not the enemy though, Dumbledore is. All I really have to do is stay out of his way and hope he stays out of mine. Regardless of which one of us takes him out, I still win._

_As for followers, you and me, huh? That means you_ _’_ _re in?_

_I_ _’_ _ll be bringing Ron, Ginny and Hermione into this, but not until I have a stronger base and some time has passed. If Hermione writes it off as a reaction to grief and tells someone, it_ _’_ _s all over. Besides, I think she_ _’_ _s hiding something from me and I_ _’_ _d rather not include her until I know what that something is. Though I suppose I_ _’_ _m not in a position to judge, there are a lot of things I_ _’_ _ve hidden from the three of them._

_I_ _’_ _d appreciate you asking around so long as my name doesn_ _’_ _t come up until I approve it._

_Also, his list of things important to him? I think you_ _’_ _ve covered it there, though I_ _’_ _m not sure McGonagall and the others mean all that much to him either. Or the school for that matter, it just helps him influence people._

_Luna would stand with me, and if she does then Neville might. I wouldn_ _’_ _t be surprised if Seamus and Dean would join us, but I_ _’_ _d need to tell or prove something that Dumbledore has done to sway them. The more people we get on our side the more we have that can recruit others, but that also means that the more on our side the easier it will be to accidentally get caught out. How Voldemort has dealt with this crap for so long I will never understand, I will just have to suck it up until my mission is accomplished I suppose. Maybe that_ _’_ _s what he does anyway._

_Thoughts?_

_Your nemesis who is easily 30x as superior as you,_

_Harry_

Harry waits for his reply, noticing that it’s now nearly five in the morning and he and Draco have been talking for hours. He realizes that he’s enjoyed it, talking to Draco. It’s the most fun he’s had in a while and, considering his Dad just died, that’s pretty fucked. That’s one of the reasons he’s so concerned about Hermione’s reaction to this. She is one of only four people who know Harry knows the truth, save for himself. Naturally she’ll assume that’s causing some stress. Harry realises that, on the subject of his enjoyment, he doesn’t care about the ill-timing of it. If now is his chance to enjoy something for a change, he’s not going to let anything hold him back, even if that seems like the hardest thing in the world.

Then Hedwig returns with another message.

_Harry,_

_You are right about it being unwise to underestimate him. You got lucky that night after all. It is interesting though, you spend five years knowing that you have to kill the Dark Lord, and now you are saying he is not the enemy. That the man who has been moulding you to do it, is. It_ _’_ _s almost as though the world is not kind. It is more than past time Dumbledore learns this too._

_And yes, that means I_ _’_ _m in._

_What do you think she is hiding from you? Granger, I mean._

_You sure seem to have a low opinion of the Headmaster, I was under the impression that you_ _’_ _d lick his shoes clean if he so wished._

_That_ _’_ _s a good start to the list but you should subtly find out for sure where they would fall and do it quickly. If he does get wind of this, which as you_ _’_ _ve mentioned is a growing possibility with time, you should be prepared for a battle if not a war._

_I_ _’_ _ll admit that I never thought of the affect the cause would have on the Dark Lord, it_ _’_ _s interesting when you think about it though. I can understand why he gets so short tempered given how stupid his Death Eaters can be._

_You know instead of trying to stay out of each other_ _’_ _s way, maybe you two should join forces? Although if you wanted to be an equal instead of just another follower, you_ _’_ _d have to have made an army of your own. Or be insanely powerful. Or both. Preferably both._

_Anyway, has it occurred to you that this is probably how The Dark Lord started out? I mean, we don_ _’_ _t know who he was before he became Lord Voldemort but he certainly despises Dumbledore, and Grindelwald definitely had it out for Dumbledore_ _…_ _Maybe he does it on purpose? Makes people adore him by defeating dark wizard after dark wizard and they are so thankful that they never question where these wizards are coming from._

_Also, where are you? Because Hedwig can fly fast sure, but this is ridiculous!_

_Your Nemesis who is obviously about 40x your superior,_

_Draco_

Harry thinks for a moment before writing his reply, wondering why he doesn’t want to make Draco wait… and also wondering when he started referring to him as Draco. He reads back over the letter he just got and adds ‘ _when did Draco start calling me Harry_ ’ to the list of ever growing questions that he probably won’t ever address.

_Draco,_

_Why Draco are you trying to recruit me? *Tut tut* manners young man. We were having a delightful conversation._

_I_ _’_ _m glad you_ _’_ _re in, maybe you can help me figure out what Hermione is hiding from me because I have no idea. Ever since school ended she_ _’_ _s barely been writing and when she does she_ _’_ _s obviously trying to cover something up. Not to mention the fact that Hedwig couldn_ _’_ _t even find her, had to wait for her to write to me. What ever she is hiding, I think it_ _’_ _s big. So, now I_ _’_ _ve no idea what_ _’_ _s going on. I don_ _’_ _t trust what I don_ _’_ _t know. Yet another reason I don_ _’_ _t trust Dumbledore._

_Yes, I do have a low opinion of him, it_ _’_ _s been five years and he has never done anything that would make me rethink that._

_You make it sound like Voldemort was ever my enemy. Everyone decided he was, but I have nothing against the man save for that night in Godric_ _’_ _s Hollow and him killing my boyfriend. Still, even evil has its reasons. In fact, I respect him. For over sixteen years that man has fought for what he believes in (Though Merlin knows what that is.) He has died about three times in pursuit of this cause and he keeps going, no matter what has been thrown at him, whatever the obstacle, he_ _’_ _s gotten over it or worked around it, even death. That drive and determination and resourcefulness is something to look at in awe not disgust. Mr. Ollivander told me when I got my wand that Voldemort did great things, terrible, but great._

_I plan to ask questions about the Headmaster to Luna and Neville and the others, just to get their opinions on him, see if I can make them see my side of things. If he does find out and wants a war, then I don_ _’_ _t care if I_ _’_ _m fighting it alone. I only have to survive long enough to take him out too. Or at least put something in place that will kill him. It doesn_ _’_ _t matter what happens to me._

_And you know that didn_ _’_ _t occur to me but that_ _’_ _s fascinating. I wonder if I am just following in their footsteps. All the more reason to succeed I guess, if I do it then I_ _’_ _m getting revenge for all of us, not just me. I wonder what he did to Grindelwald. You may not know who Voldemort used to be, but I do. I also have a very vague idea of what Dumbledore did to him, and actually, now that I think about it, there are a great many similarities. Still, I think there is more to his hatred than I am aware of. On both sides, actually._

_I_ _’_ _m in the muggle world Dray, I doubt your close to me, though I was wondering earlier how close you and I must be. I_ _’_ _m in Little Whinging, Surrey._

_Your very much superior and far more attractive nemesis,_

_Harry_

Harry writes, not realizing until after Hedwig left with the letter that he had referred to Draco with a nickname of sorts… _what is happening_?

_Harry,_

_~~Merlin~~ _ _~~’~~ _ _~~s Beard, you know who he is?! How? For how long? How do you know so much about them? Does he know you know? Does Dumbledore? What similarities?~~ _

_Actually, don_ _’_ _t answer any of that. It doesn_ _’_ _t do for a Malfoy_ _’_ _s curiosity to get away from them._

_Plus, owling may not be secure_ _…_ _actually should we even be discussing any of this? It could be intercepted. If anyone knew we were talking the first thing they would do would be to try and intercept the letters._

_I do see your point about respecting him. I suppose most everyone is too busy fearing him to actually think things through. Mr. Ollivander is right, he_ _’_ _s mad sure but he isn_ _’_ _t stupid._

_I have to say though, if you_ _’_ _re planning to become the next Dark Wizard of our time, you_ _’_ _re making a good start. All you have to do is destroy Dumbledore and then either war against Voldemort and win and take his mantle, or join him and take up the mantle when he inevitably dies. Or I suppose you could try to live in harmony with each other, have territories like muggle gangs do (Uncle Re told me about them). We do all have to have goals after all. Dumbledore could be just the short term one._

_Oh, and if you_ _’_ _re asking me to spy on and snoop around Granger, I_ _’_ _ll do it._

_And why in Merlin_ _’_ _s name were you up at two-thirty in the morning anyway?_

_You far superior and far far more attractive nemesis,_

_Dray_

As Harry reads the letter he’s just received, it occurs to him that perhaps a change of subject is in order. He sees the name Draco has signed the letter with and chooses to interpret it as permission to continue using the nickname he had inadvertently given his friend. 

_Wait, friend?_ Harry silently questions, _No, Draco bloody Malfoy is_ not _my friend. Don_ _’_ _t be an idiot Potter. What would Ron say?_ Harry thinks that, of all his friends, it’s probably Hermione he should channel when it comes to decisions, not Ron. Though he can’t imagine she would approve any more than Ron would. Regardless of any of it, he quickly writes out a reply.

_Dray,_

_I wouldn_ _’_ _t have answered anyway. No reason to make myself more of a target than I already am, though I do doubt the possibility of that._

_If you truly want to know then at some point I will tell you in person, as you said this may not be secure._

_But please do check into Hermione._

_I could ask you the same thing you know._

_And, where are you?_

_Your More Attractive, More Intelligent Superior,_

_Harry_

Subject successfully changed, sort of, Harry sends Hedwig off with the letter, wondering which part of this night has been stranger.

They write to each other just as much over the next few weeks, but don’t speak about Harry’s plans again until the week before school starts. Draco avoids speaking about his dreams as Harry avoids talking about his nightmares. They also have not found out where they are in relation to each other, Draco has no clue where he is in terms of Muggle suburbs and Harry doesn’t understand wizarding geography at all. The two mutually decide that if they see each other in Diagon Ally while shopping for school supplies, and when they inevitably meet in Hogwarts, they won’t talk to each other as they have been all holidays. They will treat each other as they always have so as not to raise suspicions. Draco also requests, albeit hesitantly, that Harry keep Draco updated on how his Uncle Re is, not wishing to risk getting into contact with him himself and causing more trouble for everyone. Harry hadn’t been able to help a few tears escaping, though he isn’t entirely sure why, and quickly agrees though he currently has very little to say.

Unfortunately, a day before school starts, Harry’s Uncle Vernon finds the letters.

“BOY! I’VE TOLD YOU TIME AND TIME AGAIN, YOU WILL NOT CONTACT THOSE FREAKS WHILE IN THIS HOUSE. YOU KEEP THAT BLASTED SCHOOL OUT OF HERE, DAMN YOU!” Vernon screams at him as he throws the letters behind him. He punches Harry’s stomach, Harry makes the mistake of trying to stop him. Vernon hits harder and for longer than he has in years. When he finally leaves his room, Harry can hardly breathe. He’s sure he has some cracked ribs, his wrist hurts like hell, and his face is already swelling. Still he drags himself over to the letters, for some reason the only thing he can think about is making sure all his letter are in one piece and that none are lost.

He wears a hoodie and sunglasses and moves slowly as he gets up early the next day and takes the bus to the train station. By some miracle, he manages to pull his trunk along behind him, though it hurts his ribs a whole hell of a lot and he can only use one hand. He’s certain now that, not only has he broken ribs, but he has also broken his wrist. Unfortunately, it’s not as though he could have gotten to a hospital. Besides, it was his fault, he should have hidden the letters better. They are hidden in his trunk now, he can only hope they remain safe there and in his dorm.

He makes it onto the train without being stopped or recognised, a minor miracle if you ask him. He wonders if perhaps he should wear a hoodie more often if it will grant him this sort of peace. Of course, people are bound to catch on eventually, so maybe using it sparingly when he really needs to is the better way to go. A secret weapon, if you will. 

He is sitting on the train and looking out the window when the door to his compartment opens. He turns to look and sees Ron, Hermione, and Benni Lupin walking in, the former two arguing about some thing or other.

 _Crap_ , he thinks, _how am I going to explain this away?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter note:  
> I know that, canonically, Harry spent most of the holiday prior to his sixth year at the Burrow after Albus does his version of throwing a fit to his relatives, but I took some poetic licence on that. Canon was completely thrown to the wind at the end of The Boy Who Never Cried Wolf/An Unlucky Fellow.  
> I hope you’re all enjoying this. It’s been four years in the making and I’m so glad to finally get this out! 😊


	3. Secrets

Chapter 2 – Secrets

Note: Chapter title from Maria Mena’s song ‘Secrets’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters, just my story line.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

_Last time,_

_He turns to look and sees Ron, Hermione, and Benni Lupin._

Crap _, he thinks,_ how am I going to explain this away?

Now,

“Hey Harry, what the bloody hell are you wearing?” Ron asks as soon as he enters the compartment. Two of his best friends sit across from him while his cousin takes a seat beside him, all three wait expectantly. The hoodie he is wearing is one of Dudley’s, so it’s not surprised that it looks terrible, but he didn’t have to reach high to put it on so he really doesn’t care.

“Does it matter?” He asks, sounding annoyed and hoping that Ron will get the hint and drop it. Unfortunately, his breathing is wheezy thanks to his broken ribs and he knows instantly that there is no way Hermione _didn_ _’_ _t_ hear that. His luck isn’t that good, in fact, it’s the absolute bloody opposite.

“Harry, what’s happened?” She asks, worried that he hasn’t dealt with Sirius’s death well and done something stupid. After all, mourning the Father who never admitted he was your Father but you knew was your Father while everyone else either doesn’t know or thinks you don’t know…well she can’t imagine it’s making the grief any easier. “Is that blood on your eyebrow?” She asks, “Harry take off the sunglasses and the hood,” She demands.

“But I like my hood and sunglasses,” He tries lamely. He already knows he’s lost and all he just did was make Ron worried as well. Harry worried at the end of last year that Ron would fall back into old habits of frantically trying to be prepared for anything to save everyone, but instead he seems to have changed into someone significantly more mature. Or perhaps not more mature, but more settled, more focused, more willing to take life seriously without the franticness. He’s not sure if that’s born out of maturity or fear, only that it did not come about from natural growing up. He’s still extremely protective of the Lupin family, no doubt that’s why he’s taken Little Benni under his wing. He had admitted a little over a year ago to George telling him something about the first war, something about Lupin, but Harry can’t understand how that would have affected him so much.

“You know she isn’t going to give up mate, just do what she says,” Ron suggests strongly. Harry huffs a little but then moans when it moves his ribs slightly. He takes off his hood and sunglasses with his unbroken hand and immediately hears Hermione gasp and Ron mutter ‘bloody hell’ under his breath.

“I know, my attractiveness is unparalleled,” He says sarcastically.

“Harry, what happened?” Hermione asks worriedly.

“It was just a stupid fight, Hermione. Relax,” Harry responds.

“Looks more like a thrashing to me mate, and not one that went your way,” Ron points out.

“Thanks for that Ron, very helpful,” Harry replies. Before anyone could say anymore the door opened again to see Malfoy and his friends standing there. Benoit gets up, hugging Blaise who kneels down and holds him tightly. He says something in French that Harry doesn’t understand, but has Draco, Theo, and Pansy smiling oddly softly. Benni nods at Blaise who ruffles his hair and stands back up, Benni retaking his seat.

“Looking good as always, Potter,” Draco says sarcastically, though Harry thinks he hears a touch of genuine worry in his voice which, given the change in their relationship, is not altogether surprising.

“Jealous as always, Malfoy?” Harry replies sarcastically but with a boldness to be envied. Unfortunately, that one line took the rest of his breath causing him to wheeze in awkwardly afterwards and ruin it.

“Only you would be that up yourself. What the hell happened to you anyway? Whoever did that, I’d like to send them a fruit basket,” Draco replies.

“Oh shove off Malfoy, I’m not in the mood for your shit. Go annoy someone else if you seriously can’t find anything better to do,” Harry says as he lays his head against the window and closes his eyes. Malfoy scoffs, but, luckily, he and his posse leave.

“But who _did_ do this to you, Harry? You have to tell us!” Hermione insists after a minute of awkward silence following Malfoy’s departure.

“I don’t have to tell you anything Hermione, so just leave it!” Harry says harshly before coughing a lot and then groaning rather loudly from pain. Ron helps him sit back again and then sits next to him in case he needs help. He and Hermione share a look and silently decide to leave it be, for now, but make him go to the hospital wing as soon as they get to Hogwarts.

A few hours later, they arrive. Benni goes with the other first years as Hermione and Ron help Harry to walk to the carriage. Unfortunately, Ron runs into things when he isn’t also carrying half his friend’s weight and so he manages to walk right into someone who then falls into Harry.

“Ow, FUCK!” Harry yells as he doubles over holding his ribs and struggling to breathe.

“Oh Merlin! Harry, are you alright?” Hermione asks as she kneels in front of him while Ron attempts to keep him steady. Ginny, who had been the one to fall into him, stands back up with a gasp.

“Harry? What’s happened? Should I go get help?” Ginny asks.

“No,” Harry responds at the same time Hermione responds, “Yes.”

“I’m fine, just give me a second,” Harry says. Ginny looks to her brother for guidance, he shakes his head at her and so the five of them stay where they are, hoping Harry will be okay enough to continue walking soon.

“Here, it’s a healing potion. Won’t fix it all but you should be able to walk to Madam Pomfrey,” A voice says. Harry immediately recognizes that it is Draco’s voice, so he grabs the bottle being held in front of him.

“Hold on a minute, why are you helping him?” Ron asks.

“Because the only one that’s allowed to beat the crap out of him is me,” Malfoy responds simply. 

Ron narrows his eyes at the response, “Bit possessive there, are we, Malfoy?” He taunts.

“Oh Weasel, you’re just jealous that he spends more time thinking of me than of you,” Draco says matter of factly.

“You prick, you…” Ron begins before Harry grabs his wrist and pulls him back from Malfoy slightly.

“What Ron means to say, is thank you,” Harry says, nodding to him.

Malfoy briefly nods back, “Well at some point I’m sure we’ll get into a duel and I’d hate to win just because you’d already lost to someone else,” Malfoy replies shortly before turning and stalking away with his friends to a waiting carriage.

“What was that about?” Ginny asks after they’ve left.

“I’ve no idea,” Harry replies as he grabs Ron’s hand to get up.

“You alright there, mate?” Ron asks when Harry stands still for a moment after getting up.

“Still hurts but yeah, I’m okay,” He replies before moving on to the carriage, now walking on his own though the other three remain walking very closely just in case.

When they finally get to Hogwarts, despite his arguments, Harry is taken directly to the hospital by Hermione and Ron. They do, however, convince Ginny to go to the feast so that if any professor is wondering where they are she can tell them.

“The welcoming feast hasn’t even started yet, Mr Potter, how have you already had an altercation with Mr Malfoy?” Madam Pomfrey asks as soon as they enter, she gestures them over to a bed that looks as though it had been set up waiting for him.

“Malfoy?” Harry asks dumbly.

“Yes, he came by and warned me to expect you, that’s why I’m not at the feast. Now come on, hopefully we can fix you up and still get to dinner, you two run along now,” She tells them. Hermione and Ron both look to Harry for direction and then head to the Great Hall after he waves them away.

“What the hell is Malfoy playing at?” Ron asks Hermione as they walk to the feast. She just shakes her head to indicate that she has no idea.

They stop by the hospital after the feast, but Harry is sleeping so they head back to the common room, intending to come see him in the morning.

Later that night…

“SIRIUS!” Harry screams as he wakes up and sits up with a jolt.

“So that’s why you always owl at weird points in the very early morning,” Draco comments from his seat next to the bed. Harry turns around to see him and notices no one else around.

“What are you doing here, Dray? And what time is it?” He asks.

“Well, it’s two am, and I came to check up on my inferior and far less attractive nemesis, find out what the hell happened to him and why he didn’t tell me! Who did this to you Harry?” Draco responds, his tone quickly moving from mocking to concerned.

“Why are you awake at two am?” Harry asks trying to change the subject.

“Oh, quit dodging the question Harry!” Malfoy says loudly, obviously quite frustrated.

“The same could be said of you!” Harry replies annoyed and defensive.

“I woke up, that’s all there is to it. Now what happened?” He says, Harry looks him over attempting to discern if he is lying, he decides that he’s telling the truth but it warrants further investigation.

“I was in a fight, it was relatively one sided,” He explained, Draco just looks at him, “Alright fine I got beat up,” Harry says making Draco sigh.

“Yes, I can see that, thank you, who by?” He asks.

“What does it matter to you?” Harry replies hotly, “It’s not as though you care.”

“OH FOR MERLIN’S SAKE HARRY, YOU ARE MY FRIEND, OF COURSE I CARE!” Draco yells at him.

“OH IS THAT WHAT WE ARE NOW?! FRIENDS?” Harry yells back.

“YES! No? I don’t know, I really don’t. But what I do know is that you are hurt and I don’t like that. So please tell me who did it. I just need to know,” Draco pleads with him. Harry is silent for a few moments debating what to say.

“My Uncle,” Harry finally answers quietly, thanks to how quiet everything else is, Draco hears it loud and clear.

“Your Uncle did this to you?” He responds breathlessly, who could do this to their own blood? “Why?” He asks after a minute or two of silence.

“What does it matter now, Dray?” Harry asks tiredly, he knows if he answers then Draco will blame himself.

“Harry please,” He says quietly.

“Uncle Vernon found our letters. He doesn’t allow me to speak to anyone from the wizarding world or mention anything about it, so when he found out that we had been talking he wasn’t happy. It’s my fault though, I should’ve hidden them better. That and I know better than to try to stop it. It would’ve been a lot less but I tried to block the first hit and he had to remind me not to,” Harry replies and Draco thinks he stops breathing.

“Harry that’s not your fault. He has no right to do that to you, this is in no way your fault. If that ever happens again, Fight. Back! It’s like you said a month ago, you finally have the power to do it. This is why it’s smart to have a rich and influential friend like me, if you get in any trouble for using magic at home, I can and _will_ get you out of it,” He promises with a smile which makes Harry chuckle a little, “I’m just sorry I got you in trouble. But why wouldn’t you tell me?” Draco asks.

“Because I didn’t want you to blame yourself or feel bad. You _are_ my friend Dray, I care about you too,” He replies, they share a smile, “So are you always up at two am?” He asks, Draco chuckles.

“Pretty consistently, yes. I get these dreams about this girl, I don’t know who she is, but the second she falls asleep I wake up and that always seems to be about this time,” He replies.

“You dreaming about girls, Draco? Are you lonely?” Harry asks with a falsely sympathetic smile on his face, he laughs when Draco hits him with the pillow from the adjacent bed.

“No! I am not lonely, and even if I were, I’m gay so I’d hardly be dreaming about a girl,” He replies.

“Hang on, I thought you and Parkinson were a thing...” Harry replies confused but still smiling.

“Who, Pansy? No, she’s like my sister! She’s literally my version of Granger except not as studious, no less annoying though. A lot more devious and pureblood arrogance sure, but well, you get my point,” Draco replies scandalized and rambling from the shock of it. _Him,_ and _Pansy_ , heh, no!

“Yeah, I get what you mean,” Harry replies as they both laugh. They continue talking until they realize that people will be waking soon. 

They walk together through the castle towards their respective common rooms until they have to go their separate ways.

“You know even if we are friends now, you’re still my inferior, far less attractive, and much more ignorant Nemesis,” Harry tells him.

“Likewise Potter,” Draco replies, chuckling as he walks away, Harry enters the Gryffindor common room smiling like an idiot.

“Harry your back! Why do you look like you’ve just had sex? You were in hospital!” Ginny asks when he walks in, causing the entire common room to look up.

“Yes, I’m back, and no, I did not get laid, as you said I was in hospital all night,” Harry replies, laughing at her in a teasing way, she rolls her eyes at him.

“Hang on, aren’t you two dating?” Seamus asks making the golden trio and Ginny laugh.

“No, damn, she’s family, Mate,” Harry tells him, looking mildly disgusted.

“So is that it then? You got a _cruuuuuush_?” Ginny asks, making fluttering eyes at him. It’s been over a year since Cedric died, and as traumatic as she knows that was, she also doesn’t want Harry to get caught up mourning so much so that he never gets the chance to move on.

“What?! No no no no no. I do not have a crush!” Harry replies, cheeks burning as he realises exactly what she said.

“Ah so we’re at the denial stage of it then. Must be very new,” Seamus comments, laughing at him, “So go on then, who’s the lucky girl?” He asks.

“There isn’t one,” Harry replies. Pretty soon the entire common room was throwing out names, all of which he denies. They continue this all the way to the Great Hall and even into breakfast.

“What’s going on?” Luna asks Neville.

“We’re trying to guess who Harry has a crush on,” He replies.

“Oh Potter’s got a crush, has he?” Some Hufflepuff calls out, soon the entire Hall is talking about it and throwing names around, he denies everything. He most certainly _does not_ have a crush!

“Just can’t help being in the spotlight, can you Potter?” Malfoy asks sarcastically.

“Believe you me Malfoy, this was _not_ my idea,” Harry replies miserably.

“So, who is this girl that’s captured the attention of the beloved Golden Boy?” Malfoy asks chuckling, annoyingly looking smug because he knows he’s getting under Harry’s skin. Pansy looks at him incredulously before rolling her eyes and looking 100% done with his shit.

“Well the same could be said to you Malfoy,” Harry replies, confusing the entire hall, who, by this point, has stopped their own conversations to listen. Not that Harry and Draco have noticed, of course.

“What the devil are you on about Potter?” Draco asks defensively.

“The way your friends reacted to your question just then shows that they think you’re being totally hypocritical, which leads me to believe they’ve had the same conversation with you and you didn’t tell them. So, do enlighten us, who’s captured the attention of the infamous Slytherin Prince?” Harry questions smugly, Blaise, next to Draco, starts laughing quietly while Pansy sits, sizing up Harry while looking mildly impressed. Hermione inwardly wondering why he can’t be that observant all the time instead of being the human equivalent of a brick wall.

“I do not have a crush,” Draco replies shortly, sitting down in a huff.

“Finally, something we have in common,” Harry says, sitting down, the both of them going back to breakfast as though nothing happened. Slowly the rest of the hall follows suit except Ron, who sits next to Harry, giving him a thoughtful look before he groans and starts banging his head onto the table.

“Ron, for goodness sake, what are you doing?” Hermione asks after the fifth bang.

“I’ve just worked out who it is,” He replies. He lays his head on the table, eating bacon, for the rest of breakfast and not talking to anyone. Anytime Harry tries to deny that he even _has_ feelings for someone, Ron just replies with, “I know that you don’t know yet Harry, it’s fine, I won’t tell anyone.” Or he just gives him a bored look.

A few minutes later, Dumbledore stands up to give a speech. Malfoy watches as Harry’s face turns dangerously cold and shut off as he looks to the Headmaster. This is the moment that, for the first time, Draco fully believes that Harry will kill him in cold blood. He doesn’t worry for his safety though, he’s an empath and he knows that Harry won’t hurt him. Not anymore. But he can also feel how Harry feels. He always has been able to and often wondered how the boy ever made sense of the tornado of emotions constantly occupying his soul. It’s not surprising that he’s apparently losing it, something had to give eventually, and Draco can’t say he’s disappointed with the results.

Draco looks over to Hermione, who is listening intently to whatever the old man is droning on about, he remembers his promise to look into and spy on her to scope out if she truly is hiding something, and if so, what. Feeling his gaze, she looks over and they lock eyes, for a second they both feel a connection, like they know each other on some level that is only possible after years of very close friendship, then she looks away and the moment is broken. Draco looks back over to Dumbledore, but he can’t hear a word the man is saying, far too busy pondering the odd encounter.

When the mail comes, Draco isn’t surprised that he has gotten two letters. One from his father and the other, presumably, from Harry. Harry has also gotten two letters, one is from him and, if he had to guess, he’d say the other is from either Uncle Remus or the Weasley mother checking up on him. They had both sporadically sent Harry letters over the holidays which had annoyed him to no end. Though Remus’ had curiously stopped about a month ago. Draco knows that his Father and Severus have no idea where Remus has been, only that he hasn’t contacted anyone. 

He wonders why his Aunt wrote his Uncle Remus a letter, one to be delivered after she died. Did they know each other? Would Remus be the only person, other than Draco, who seems to care that Aunt Bella is gone? He hasn’t mentioned her death to Harry, wanted to say it in person. He still can’t believe she’s gone. After disappearing for months a few weeks after getting out of Azkaban, some secret mission for the Dark Lord, he finally gets her back and gets to know her…only to lose her once more. This time, permanently.

Harry is also unsurprised about getting two letters, one is from Draco and the other from Remus, that’s a bit of a surprise. He hasn’t heard from him in a while and knows that Draco hasn’t either, both have been quite concerned but know that they’d get no information from anyone until he turns up again. He looks over to Draco and sees him watching him. Harry is pretty sure that Draco is attempting to work out who the other letter is from, so Harry turns to his friends, speaking just loud enough for Draco to hear him.

“Do you think there are werewolves in the Forbidden Forest?” He asks. He casts a quick glance over to Malfoy and sees him look down, satisfied, then wonders how to continue this conversation with the others.

“Well the only Werewolf we know of from around there is Professor Lupin, but maybe you could write to him and ask? I’m sure he would know. Why do you ask?” Hermione responds, voice full of curiosity and worry. She can’t help but be concerned that Harry has gotten himself into something he shouldn’t have again.

“Oh I don’t know, I just had a dream about werewolves attacking Hogwarts,” Harry lies. Hermione looks totally unconvinced, so Harry changes the subject. “I don’t suppose either of you know where he’s been? He wrote to me a bit but about a month ago just stopped.” Ron looks around nervously before leaning in to speak, gesturing for Hermione to lean in as well, Harry follows suit too.

“Mum says he quit the Order.”

“What?” Hermione asks, looking horrified.

Ron nods, “Overheard Mum and Dad talking about it a week ago. From what they said, he really hasn’t been taking what happened to Sirius well.” Hermione sends Harry a concerned look, but he ignores it.

“What’d they say?”

“He’s drinking more, even more than before, that was emphasized so much I’m surprised the bloke’s still alive. Anyway, first time he spoke a word after it happened was just before meeting us at the station. Hasn’t talked much since, he’s been staying with Tonks’ parents. Then he disappeared for five days, stealing something important, only to return, give it back, have some kind of argument with Dumbledore, and then quit the entire bloody war. No one’s heard from him since.”

“What about Jamie and Benni?” Hermione asks.

Ron shakes his head, “They’ve been staying with their grand-parents since school finished. Apparently, Jamie was meant to be moving in with Fred and George after they graduated. But then Remus ran off and she didn’t want to leave Benoit. Benni and I have been writing a lot. He was quite glad that Tonks’ parents were helping Remus out, without Snape still around for them no one else could. His parents certainly couldn’t deal with two kids and him in that state. But now that he’s just left without a word…well, Benoit’s worried for him.”

“What did he steal and return?” Harry asks after they sit in a heavy silence for a while.

Ron looks nervous, “A memory.”

Meanwhile at the Slytherin table, Pansy has just caught a glimpse of Draco’s envelope containing Harry’s letter. The front of which has the words ‘Dray Malfoy’ written on it.

“Who in Salazar’s name calls you Dray?” Pansy asks incredulously, who would dare deface Draco’s name that way, and why would Draco be letting them?

“Just a friend,” Draco answers defensively, everyone around him looks at him shocked.

“I’m sorry, you have a friend?” Pansy asks, genuinely surprised. She has not ever heard Draco refer to someone as a friend in all the years she has known him.

“What? Of course I do, you and Blaise are my friends, aren’t you?” Draco says, sounding very confused.

“We are? I mean yeah, we are, I’m just surprised that you noticed and acknowledged it. I mean since when do Slytherins have anything other than allies?” Blaise answers, sometimes he feels like he’s the only one of his friends who grew up normally. The others are all arrogant and pompous in ways that he tries to ignore but that sometimes get under his skin. He thinks it’s Sev and Remus’ influence that’s done so, they have practically raised him as their own. He misses Remus a lot, but he can’t deny it’s been great spending more time with Sev again, even if Spinner’s End is way more depressing than their old house in France. Though from what he hears Remus had to abandon that anyway.

“I… uh… I don’t see what this has to do with anything,” Draco says at last. Everyone is quiet for a while before Pansy decides to test just how far he will let this new position go.

“So, if this person is a friend, and we are friends, can Blaise and I call you Dray?” Pansy asks with a challenging tone.

Draco looks at her before looking over to Harry who he notices is eavesdropping, Harry gives a minute nod of the head to show that he approves. “Sure, I guess,” He finally settles on.

“So, Dray, is this friend the one you have feelings for?” Blaise asks causing Draco to groan.

“Not this again. Look, I don’t have feelings for him, okay? We started talking over the summer about our mutual hatred of Dumbledore, turns out we have a lot in common and we became friends. That’s it,” He says deciding to use the occasion to find out for sure what their feelings on the crazed Headmaster are.

“Ooooh hatin’ on Dumbledore? Sounds like my kinda guy,” She says.

“Wouldn’t want your mother hearing you speak like that, would you, Pansy? That was hardly proper and ladylike,” Blaise asks her sarcastically.

Pansy rolls her eyes before looking back at Draco. She sees something in his face, something that makes her rethink his previous words, and her own. She leans in close as she speaks, “How serious is the hating?” She asks him. Draco makes a face that says it’s a fair amount.

Blaise catches on to Pansy’s train of thought. “So, when you say you were talking about it…”

“Please tell me you guys are making plans to deal with him?” Pansy asks quietly, finishing the thought.

“And if you are, please tell me you are gonna include us!” Blaise adds, making sure no one but Crabbe and Goyle will overhear them. Draco nods at him, once, serious, cold. Pansy and Blaise exchange looks, everything they know of Dumbledore from overheard conversations around their homes, particularly Remus and Severus’, well it isn’t good.

“So go on then, who is it? Is he a Hogwarts student?” Pansy asks, wanting desperately to know more.

“I will tell you when you prove you’re on our side,” Malfoy replies, they both look at him incredulously. “Look guys I know you are, and I trust you. But _He_ may need more and even more importantly, I can’t risk his identity getting out,” He explains, shocking the others by saying he trusts them.

“So what do you need us to do to ‘prove ourselves’?” Blaise asks, clearly unimpressed about this but also seeming to accept that that’s how it is. Draco thinks on this for a moment. He makes a show of looking around as though for inspiration but actually looks up at Harry, making sure the other two aren’t watching him. He mouths the word proof to Harry who immediately mouths back Hermione.

“Okay here it is,” Draco says, bringing their attention back to him, “Granger has a secret, help me find out what it is and you’re in,” He tells them. Blaise and Pansy look at each other for a moment, seeming to be having a silent discussion.

“Alright, we’ll do it.”

Two days later in potions…

Pansy and Blaise made a list of different things Hermione could be lying about. They chose to cross off the big stuff before getting into smaller possibilities. So, the first lesson of potions, Pansy ‘accidentally’ dropped a potion on Hermione that is meant to identify blood purity*. There are four quadrants over one’s body, if it glows green it’s magic and if it glows red it’s not. So if someone is a half blood, then half of them will be green. It’s based on grandparents which is why there are four. Naturally they assume that being a muggle-born, or ‘mudblood’ as Pansy would say, all four quadrants would show up red. But boy are they shocked when Hermione starts glowing fully green.

“What is happening?!” Hermione asks desperately, panicking about why the fuck she is glowing.

“That, my dear, is a Blood Appraisal, simple blood purity test, the green means you are of pureblood descent,” Professor Slughorn replies, sounding rather confused, he had thought Miss Granger to be a Muggle born.

“But Hermione’s muggle-born,” Ron states uselessly.

“Well apparently she isn’t,” Harry points out, dumbfounded. Hermione looks just as shocked and runs out of the classroom, closely followed by Ron and Harry.

“That it, Dray?” Pansy asks.

“No Pans, she was just as shocked, that’s not what she was hiding. Though…I think it may be connected somehow,” Draco answers, looking in the direction the three left, with suspicion.

The next day, during DADA, Hermione walks in and, as she has been since Potions the day before, is followed by whispers and stares. Today, Pansy and Blaise plan to cast a disillusionment charm on the entire classroom.

The second they do, 50% of the class is now wearing casual clothes which makes the entire class laugh because most of them don’t bother to wear the uniform, they just make it seem like they do. The three Slytherin’s and Harry all look absolutely shocked though, because they had been watching Hermione closely for any minute changes. They were not, however, expecting nearly everything about her to have changed.

Draco recognizes her immediately, she is the one he has been dreaming of. She’s even wearing the same outfit that she wore the night he first owled to Harry. Now though, he can see her face. Not much changed after the disillusionment charm was cast, except that she now has pale green eyes and very heavy makeup as he knows she frequently wears, she has the black lipstick on today. He thinks she looks stunning and feels the now familiar feeling he always feels in his dreams. He can’t understand why he now feels as though she means so much to him. It isn’t a romantic love, but it’s love of some kind.

During his musings, Draco failed to notice the entire class now staring at Hermione.

“Well that happened,” She says, completely relaxed. Snape glares at her, for no particular reason except that he always does, she glares right back. When he looks away, they think she’s out glared him. They don’t know the real reason – that Draco is not the only one to have recognised her. 

Draco and Hermione lock eyes and he is shocked at the power he sees inside them, she is not one to be messed with. He wonders if she could be useful in taking down Dumbledore, he wonders if she might be willing.

“Why on Earth would you hide being that hot?” Pansy blurts out, still staring at her. Hermione just winks at her before going back to her work, but Draco can see the slight tremor in her hands, giving away how uncomfortable with this she is.

“Close your mouth, Parkinson, you’re drooling everywhere,” Harry tells her, mockingly, before looking to Hermione.

“Hermione?” Ron asks.

“Yes, Ronald?” She responds sharply. 

But as he has for the entirety of the five years they have already known each other, Ron ignores the tone. “What is happening?”

“Yes, I think we’d all be interested to know, Miss Granger,” Snape adds, shocking the class. It’s not so much the question, that’s perfectly valid, it’s the look in his eyes and the tone of voice. He’s afraid, and hopeful, and more than anything he’s heartbroken. Then it’s all gone.

“If only it were anyone else’s business,” She replies, giving Snape a pleasant smile, though everyone could hear the defensiveness in her voice. “And it’s Hermione Willows, now, not Granger.”

“You’re adopted,” Draco says before he can stop himself, everyone looks at him so he decides to just continue. “You wanted to look more like the people who adopted you, didn’t you?” He asks, though it is not so much a question as a statement.

“How did you know that, Malfoy?” Hermione asks suspiciously.

“Well after finding out you were actually a pureblood and how shocked you were, it seemed like you either didn’t know your parents, or you didn’t know they were magic, the latter of which just doesn’t make any sense. Anyway, now we find out you were trying to look different, either to look different from yourself or someone else, or to look more like someone. Adopted made the most sense,” Draco lies, being totally convincing to everyone but Snape, though Harry looks mildly suspicious as well.

“Fostered, actually,” She replies in a clipped tone.

“What’s the difference?” Ron asks, finally coming out of his shock.

“One’s permanent,” She replies sadly, leaving no doubt to which is which and also explaining the change in last name to those around her.

“That enough?” Pansy asks Draco quietly.

“Enough for me. Now all you gotta do is convince Him,” He responds.

“So, are you working for him or more like business partners? And which will we be? Assuming of course we can convince him,” Blaise asks.

“It’s his mission, he just needed my help to start off. What we are now I’m unsure. As for you, that’s up to him, he’s the boss. His mission, his call,” Draco responds.

“When are we meeting him? I’d like to hear his plans before I join up. He has to convince us too after all,” Blaise tells him.

“Be at the astronomy tower at two-thirty am. We will meet you there,” Malfoy answers, knowing that both will be awake and also knowing that Harry will have been listening and heard that.

“We’ll be there,” Pansy responds for the both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES:
> 
> *Blood Appraisal potion. I have mentioned before that all of the potions and spells I’ve made up for the story are properly thought through so if anyone has any questions about any of them, feel free to ask. I’ll either have an answer or work out what the answer will be and add it to my notes.
> 
> So, to clarify, obviously Harry already knows that Hermione’s a foster kid from when she told him, Ron, and Ginny. The bit no one knew was that the Granger’s had given her up.


	4. How

Chapter 3 – How

Note: Chapter title from Molly Kate Kestner’s song ‘How’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters, just my story line.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

_Last time,_

_“_ _Be at the Astronomy tower at two-thirty am. We will meet you there._ _”_ _Malfoy answers knowing the both will be awake and also knowing the Harry will have been listening and heard that._

_“_ _We_ _’_ _ll be there._ _”_ _Pansy says for the both of them._

Now,

Harry is asleep, he’s having a nightmare about Sirius dying when he tries to shove it away, the dream melts and leaves him in this inky blackness that makes him feel empty. The blackness starts dissolving into something else and Harry feels like he’s falling, he can feel another presence, knows someone else is there too. He’s in someone’s mind, seeing their whole life and their every thought whizzing past him as he suddenly becomes aware of it all. He knows that this man is his father, but not the one he thought he had. It all becomes too much, it _hurts_ , oh god it hurts, get him out of here, _GET ME OUT OF HERE!!_

Harry gasps and pants as he wakes up, sweating and screaming and crying. Luckily, he had set up a silencing charm before he went to sleep in case he screamed again, not that he’s even thinking of it now. He’s a mess, he knows too much, so much and he can’t make sense of it. But as he tries to remember what it is he knows, he finds himself forgetting more and more until suddenly, he can’t remember his dream at all.

Harry checks the time and sees he has ten minutes before he is meant to meet the others. Not overly caring if he is a bit late, Harry gets up and dressed into his school robes, knowing he won’t be sleeping again. He washes his face thoroughly, wiping away tears and taking a few moments to truly get a hold of himself. He clears his throat and, at long last, sneaks out of the dorm and out of the common room all together. As soon as he steps through the portrait he sees Draco waiting for him.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t show,” He says as Harry walks up to him.

“Oh Dray, you know me better than that. How’s your dream blonde doing?” Harry asks mockingly as the two begin to walk.

“Well it’s a lot weirder seeing her in my dreams now that I know who she is,” Draco tells him, Harry stops walking to look at him.

“You know who she is?” He asks, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We don’t have many opportunities to talk apart from letters and I found out yesterday so Owls haven’t come since. Anyway, it’s Granger. I didn’t realise until DADA but it’s her, it’s definitely her,” Draco responds as they begin walking again.

“Is that how you knew she was in Foster Care?” Harry asks, suddenly very interested in the connection the two have, “I wonder if she has seen your life too,” He adds as an afterthought.

“Yeah it was, I saw her move from home to home until she got to the Granger’s, a year before coming here,” Draco explains.

“Man, that’s weird,” Harry says, laughing and causing Draco to glare at him.

“It’s not funny Potter, I know way too much about her. Way more than I should, like I know how many times she’s been arrested, I know most of her report cards, I have watched as she walks in on the Grangers having sex. I’ve seen her be bullied for most of her life, I’ve watched her fight back, and more importantly I’ve seen her power. It’s frighteningly strong. I know how she thinks Harry, know what she eats and how she spends her nights. For Merlin’s sake, I’ve seen her sleeping with her girlfriend, or, well, ex-girlfriend, actually. Point is, it’s not funny but it really _is_ awkward,” Malfoy informs him harshly, becoming hysterical by the end.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry Dray, I guess I didn’t think of that. That would be pretty awkward, I feel sorry for the both of you. I’m curious though, you said this happens when you dream, so how have you seen her during the day?” Harry asks curiously.

“Sometimes it happens when I’m awake. Apparently when that happens I either pass out or just freeze like I’m not in my body anymore and my eyes glaze over. At least that’s what my father, Blaise, Pansy, and my godfathers say. Every time it happens though if we are in front of other people, they make excuses or something and get me out of there, so no one knows about my ‘condition’. I’ve never told Pansy and Blaise what actually happens though, just told them I black out. Father, Uncle Remus, and Uncle Sev know though,” He explains.

“I heard from Remus this morning, wished me luck for school and didn’t give me any indication of where he is or what he’s been doing. He asked I pass along the wishes for luck with school to you and your friends as well.” 

Draco nods, “Death Eaters are still after him so he can’t actually contact us. Harry listen, there’s something you need to know,” He begins, Harry stops and looks at him, he takes a deep breath, “I know why he disappeared, some of it anyway.”

“Why?” Harry asks, frowning in concern.

“Aunt Bella’s dead, she died a month ago,” Draco begins, pausing a moment to take a deep breath.

Harry speaks before he can continue, “I’m so sorry, Dray.”

Draco looks at him in shock, “I-I thought you’d be happy, she killed Sirius.”

“I told you, I don’t blame her for that. Besides, I got the impression in your letters that you two were close, or at the least you cared for her a great deal. I’m never going to be happy about something that makes you sad. I happen to know what it’s like to lose a family member who’s been locked up in Azkaban most of your life but whom you still care for even if the rest of the population thinks they’re a crazy murderer.” 

Draco chuckles slightly, “Yes, I suppose you do.” He scratches the back of his head, “I watched it happen. Went over to her afterwards, she had a note. It had Remus’ initials on it. I gave it and my memory of what happened to Uncle Sev. It was just after that that he left. I didn’t even know they knew each other, just that he used to get twitchy if she was mentioned.”

“From what I’ve overheard from the Order, I was under the impression she tortured him while he was a prisoner for a while in the first war.” 

Draco frowns, “It just doesn’t make sense, the Dark Lord killed her because she was trying to stop him. If she was on his side, why would she do that?”

“I don’t know, but listen, there’s something you should know, only we really shouldn’t be talking about this in the middle of a damned hallway at two-forty in the morning.”

“Not to mention, we’re late!” Draco agrees, “Later?”

Harry nods, “Later.”

They make the rest of the walk in silence. When they get to the tower they see Pansy and Blaise waiting impatiently.

“Finally Dray, it’s nearly three!” Pansy complains, “So where is he?” She asks. Harry realises Draco is blocking him from view, so he steps around and walks forward. It comes out…rather dramatically. Harry thinks Sirius would have been proud of him for that, if none of what else he’s been up to.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me, really Draco?!” Blaise yells, knowing that no one will hear them and Filch never checks up here.

“What? You wanted to meet him, here he is,” He replies, chuckling. 

Pansy looks at Harry, looking him up and down, before nodding. “Hi, Pansy Parkinson, newest recruit to your cause, that is, if you’ll have me,” Pansy says, holding out her hand for him to shake. 

He looks to Draco who nods, looks to Pansy and down to her hand before grabbing and shaking. “Welcome aboard, Miss Parkinson,” Harry replies, she gives him a dangerous smirk that somehow he can just tell means she is all the way into this.

“Tell me something Potter, why are you doing this? Why would you want to kill Dumbledore?” Blaise asks distrustfully.

“I don’t want to kill him. At least not just kill him, I’m going to destroy him first. I will tear his entire world down around him, I’m giving you an opportunity to join me here. But if you join, you follow my orders. If you have a problem with that then walk away. But now that you know, you are either with me or against me, and believe me Zabini, you do not want to be my enemy,” Harry says coldly, showing no weakness or emotion. 

Zabini smirks at him, “I guess I’m in then,” He says as he and Harry shake hands.

“So, do you guys have a plan?” Pansy asks. 

Harry and Draco smirk as Harry nods, “Yep. So here’s how this is gonna work. If you need to talk to me go through Dray. Only speak to me in person if it’s an emergency. We can call a meeting if Dray feels it’s important enough. I’ll give my orders to Dray who will pass them on. He will be updated by you daily on your progress with each task and once a week he’ll update me unless something big happens. At some point in the future, when I’ve decided you have earnt a modicum of trust, you may become privy to the details of our plan. Until then you’ll just have to believe that everything you do is working towards the greater cause,” Harry dictates, leaving no room for argument.

“You know you sound like a slightly more reasonable version of the Dark Lord,” Pansy tells him.

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Miss Parkinson,” Harry replies with a smirk that Pansy would find 100% hot if not for her overwhelming lack of interest in the male gender.

“We should have a name. Your followers I mean. Like the Dark Lord has his Death Eaters. The more people who join up the cooler it will be,” She tells them. Draco rolls his eyes and Harry smirks again and takes a step towards her.

“I’ll tell you what, that can be your first task. While that happens, I need the two of you to get Slughorn fired,” He says, confusing all three of his followers, “I don’t care how, just get it done. Though I warn you, it will not be easy,” He adds before walking away, presumably to go back to his common room.

“Any idea why?” Blaise asks Draco.

“I know what he’s trying to do, I just don’t see how getting Slughorn fired will help. Luckily though, we don’t have to understand, we just have to follow his orders,” Draco replies.

“You really think he can do this? I mean I get it, he’s the boss now, we do as he says without question. But you have to have joined him for a reason, to have you blindly following after him in such a short amount of time is certainly an achievement,” Blaise says, surprised by the devotion to Harry that Draco is exhibiting.

“Yes, I think he can do it. I don’t think it’s going to stop there either. Once Dumbledore is gone there will be others. I’m not sure who, but Harry wants to destroy a lot more than one man. In the end I believe it will come down to Harry and The Dark Lord. I’m not sure why, but I think something is going to happen that causes the two forces to join. When that happens, I plan to be loyal to Harry, not Lord Voldemort,” Draco tells them, shocking them both, that was quite a dangerous thing to say.

“If I feel that he has what it takes to hold his own, then so will I. For now though, we get Slughorn fired. What’s your task?” Blaise asks.

“Well while you two do that, and also apparently name us,” He says with a look at Pansy who laughs at him, “I’m on recruitment. Let me know if you make a plan you need someone else for,” Draco says, “We should get back to the dungeons.”

“Hey Dray, does Jamie know about this?” Blaise asks.

Draco shakes his head, “And you cannot tell her.”

“Why not? Surely you know she’d be on board with this.” Pansy scoffs slightly at that, Blaise and Draco ignore it. The two have never gotten on particularly well though they cared for each other as much as the others.

“Look, we never told you this, but Jam and I knew where Sirius Black was after he escaped, we were helping him for most of the first year. Uncle Remus…I’ve never seen him so mad, not ever. Things are tough for them at the moment, I’m not dragging her into something else that is just going to make things even more tense. If we need her, or if Harry specifically requests her involvement, then I’ll tell her. Until then I’d rather leave her out of it.” Blaise looks uncomfortable at the idea of leaving who is basically his sister in the dark, but does not protest further.

A week later and all Pansy and Blaise have done is make Snape really annoyed with them and get themselves detention. Twice.

So far they had attempted to plant evidence of him drinking in class, tried to make it seem like he cheated to help Harry suddenly improve his potion ability, and they spread all sorts of rumours that teachers just ignored. Luckily the only things they had been caught with was the alcohol, hence the detentions.

They knew they needed to step up their game, preferably before the weekly report went in to Harry tomorrow. It is while they are in detention cleaning out Snape’s supply cupboard that Pansy gets an idea.

“What if we’re going about this the wrong way,” She says to Blaise.

“What do you mean?” He asks confused.

“Well we keep trying to make situations for Teachers to catch him doing something,” She points out.

“Your point?” Blaise questions her, having no idea where she was going with this.

“My point, is that maybe we need to discredit him another way. Like what if something were to happen in his class, what if a student added an ingredient to a potion that they shouldn’t even have and it blew up, big time? Students injured all because he made a stupid mistake,” Pansy explains.

“Huh,” Blaise says thinking it over, “It’d have to be something that _looks_ like an ingredient we were supposed to be using or the student would get in trouble for using it when they weren’t meant to. Also doing it on a younger class would make the accident more believable. We should ask Dray how comfortable ‘He’ is with students being harmed,” He says.

“Okay so how about you ask Dray and also find out if he or ‘He’, man we need a better name for him too, anyway, if either of them have any ideas on how to sneak somewhere without being seen. Meanwhile, I’ll find out what potion the first years are making in two days and find something that looks like it should go in there but will have an explosive reaction. At the very least this will call into question his ability to teach. We can always do more to destroy his reputation until Dumbledore has no choice but to fire him,” Pansy says.

Immediately after detention, Blaise and Pansy head back to their dorm, hurrying to make it back before curfew. Once there, Blaise went to Draco and called him into the dorm while Pansy goes over to a first year and starts asking general questions about how they’re liking school and what their lessons are like to find out what potion they are making. As soon as Blaise exits the dorm Draco gets some parchment and a quill and writes Harry a message.

_Harry,_

_They have a plan. How much do you care about Students being harmed?_

_They are also wondering if either of us have an idea of how to sneak into something totally unseen_ _…_ _you, surprisingly, have more experience in that than me, so I thought I_ _’_ _d leave that to you._

_Your Loyal Follower (Who is still your nemesis btw),_

_Dray_

Draco gets his owl and sends it directly to Harry’s dorm, sending it through the grated window on the roof of his dorm that allows some fresh air in, seeing as the normal sealed windows lead to the lake the air would get stale without these ones leading out to the grounds.

Harry hears a scratching on the window at 9:30pm and sees an owl he recognizes as Draco’s outside. He opens the window and grabs the letter from its claws. It sits on the windowsill clearly waiting for a reply to send. Thankfully he is the only one in the dorm, he realizes they need to work out a safer way to communicate.

He reads over the message and ponders for a moment before realizing several things at once. He grabs five pieces of parchment and begins to write on one of them.

_Dray,_

_No pain no gain._

_Your Nemesis and New Boss,_

_Harry_

_P.S. Grab one of the pieces of parchment from the box, point your wand at it and say my name._

Harry then charms the other pieces of parchment and puts three of them in the bottom of a box he conjures, he also puts in his invisibility cloak, he then sticks the letter on top of the box and gives the package to the owl before closing his window.

He grabs the last piece of parchment and waits.

Draco notices the second the owl returns. He grabs the package and reads the letter.

He then follows its instructions with the Parchment.

_\------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Draco, this parchment is charmed along with the other three. You point your wand at it and say the name of whoever you wish to speak with. It_ _’_ _s a lot safer than sending owls to my dorm. There_ _’_ _s enough for all of us and if others join I can charm more if needed. Give the other pieces to Pansy and Blaise._

_\------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Draco smirks at the parchment, impressed.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Smart idea Harry._

_\-------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Draco calls the other two into the dorm.

“I spoke with _Him_. Now take these, they’re charmed. Use your wand, point it at the parchment and say the name of whoever you need to speak to. Whatever you write will show up on their parchment and vice versa. Also, he sent this cloak, I’m assuming it’s got to do with you two sneaking around, but he didn’t explain,” He explains as he hands the cloak and the parchment over. They each put their parchment in their pocket before Pansy grabs the cloak. She puts it around herself immediately.

“How do I look?” She asks, the others assume she twirls because her head spins around, but as it’s the only visible thing about her, they can’t be sure.

“Look down Pans,” Blaise tells her, she does and only just muffles a scream.

“Where the hell did he get this?” Pansy asks incredulously.

“I’ve honestly got no idea. At this point I’ve learnt not to question how he does anything and accept that if it gets him out of trouble, he can do it,” Draco explains causing the three of them to chuckle a bit.

“Did you find out what we need to get?” Blaise asks Pansy, she nods.

“Yes, and it grows nearby,” She says sounding rather disconcerted.

“Then why do you sound like you’d rather piss off Uncle Sev than collect it?” Draco asks.

“Because it grows in the Forbidden Forest. I mean only a little ways in, but still. Also, the first year’s class is tomorrow, not in two days. None of us have a free period tomorrow morning, but I know who does, and he would definitely be able to tell one plant from the other,” She says hesitantly.

“Who?” Blaise asks recognising her hesitance.

“Neville Longbottom. He’s not taking potions, which is our first lesson,” Pansy explains, neither of the boys question how she knows that because she always seems to know where people are, “I was thinking that maybe ‘He’ could somehow get Neville to help us?”

“In one night?!” Blaise asks stunned by what Pansy was saying.

“Well we need more people on our side anyway, why not Longbottom?” She throws back. They turn to Draco expectantly waiting to see who’s side he will take. He rolls their eyes and uses his parchment to tell Harry Pansy’s idea.

_\------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_P is wondering what the chances of Longbottom joining our side by tomorrow morning are so that he can use his free lesson to go into the forbidden forest and collect a plant they need._

_\-------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_What_ _’_ _s the name of the plant?_

_\-------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Polkwood_

_\-------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_You_ _’_ _ll have it tomorrow._

_\-------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Is this one of those things I shouldn_ _’_ _t question?_

_\-------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Harry doesn’t respond which Draco takes as his answer. He shows the others the conversation before shaking the parchment which clears away the messages.

After that they all head to bed. Before Harry does he writes out a note.

_Hagrid,_

_I need a favour._

_There_ _’_ _s a plant in the forbidden forest that I need, it_ _’_ _s called polkwood._

_I know I_ _’_ _m not meant to have it and I swear I_ _’_ _ll explain later, just please trust me. Can you send some up with Neville? I imagine you_ _’_ _d have some in your hut._

_Just don_ _’_ _t show him what it is._

_Your trusted friend,_

_Harry Potter_

He then goes to bed smiling, happy that plans are finally moving along after a rather rocky start. Then it clicks in his head what the others are doing, he’d overheard a first year mentioning the potion they’ll be making the next day. Harry opens his eyes and sits up, a thoughtful look on his face as a plan forms in his mind, he might be able to fix another problem at the same time. He gets up again, a lot to do and almost no time in which to do it.

The next morning Harry heads to breakfast and goes over to speak to Neville.

“Morning Neville,” He greets cheerily with a smile on his face.

“Morning Harry,” Neville replies warmly.

“Would you be able to do me a favour? Shouldn’t take long. I just need you to take this to Hagrid and hopefully bring back a package for me during your free period this morning?” Harry asks pleadingly.

“Sure Harry, haven’t been to visit Hagrid yet anyway,” Neville says, taking the note from Harry who takes a seat next to him and is soon joined by Ron and Hermione.

After double potions, Harry heads back to his dorm and sees a package sitting on his bed with a note sitting on top. He unfolds it and see it’s from Hagrid.

_Better be one hell of an explanation Harry_

_Hagrid_

Harry debates how to get the package to the others when he remembers there’s sometimes post during lunch so he runs at full speed past everyone in the common room, ignoring yells coming from behind him. He sprints up to the owlery, knowing he can’t use Hedwig, and posts the package to P. Parkinson to be delivered at lunch.

Lunch, which Harry was now late for and so he sprints all the way to the Great Hall. He stops outside the doors to walk in calmly.

He walks in and takes his usual seat across from Ron and Hermione, soon after Ginny sits down next to him.

“So why was it you were sprinting out of the common room earlier?” She asks as she sits down.

“I was late for lunch and, I’m uh, really hungry,” He says as he shovels food into his mouth.

“That’s disgusting Harry,” Hermione tells him, disguise abandoned after the DADA lesson a week prior, crinkling her nose while Ron laughs at him. When the Owls arrive, he sees one drop a package to Pansy who looks confused.

“What’s that?” Blaise asks her.

“I’ve no idea,” She responds as she opens it, however the second does, she slams it shut.

“Pans?” Draco asks, she leans over to whisper into his ear.

“Polkwood. Now how in the hell did he manage it this time? And posted to me?” She asks. 

Blaise, who had leaned in closer, hears every word. “Don’t question it Pansy. Just be glad our, uh, leader, is as resourceful as he is,” Blaise says making the other two smile.

“Glad to see your catching on,” Draco says smiling at him.

Blaise rolls his eyes, “Let’s just say he’s impressed me and leave it at that, yeah?” He asks to which they nod.

“We really need a name for him. And us. And a safe meeting place,” Pansy says making the other two sigh at her for bringing it up again. “Maybe we should just ask him, I bet he could pull a safe place out of his ass like he did this and the cloak and parchments and who knows what else,” She says, chuckling.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea,” Blaise agrees despite her meaning it in a joking fashion. Draco nods, writing to Harry on the parchment while the other two make sure no one can see.

“No need to sound so surprised, Zi,” She tells Blaise who, along with Draco, looks at her in confusion, “Well Dray and I have nicknames, if it’s a thing then you need one too,” Pansy explains. 

Blaise rolls his eyes, “Yeah, that’s not going to catch on.” Draco gets a response, he shows it to them.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

_I_ _’_ _ll look into it._

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

“What is it with you and naming things?” Draco asks, after shaking the message away, making the three laugh again.

Soon after, Pansy leaves lunch early, she grabs the cloak out of her dorm and uses it to get into the potions classroom with the Polkwood and waits. When Slughorn comes in and prepares the ingredients for the students, he lays it all out on the desks for them before he goes to let them in. Just before he opens the door, while his back is turned, Pansy swaps out the look alike for the Polkwood and moves silently to slip out of the door once the students are in and before the door is closed again. She gets out just in time but the door hits her as it closes, she freezes but no one seems to have noticed.

Pansy returns the cloak to her room before heading to DADA, she manages to get there just as people finish filing in and takes her seat next to Draco who looks at her, she nods to him.

For the entire lesson the three of them and Harry wait. Half an hour after class begins there is a huge explosion from the dungeons.

“Everyone stay here,” Snape orders before he hurries down there. Hermione gets up anyway, ignoring Ron and Harry telling her not to.

“I’ll be fine, just wait here, the less people down there the less likely they’ll be caught,” She says before walking out of the classroom. It was at that moment that Draco felt a familiar disorientation before suddenly he was seeing through Hermione’s eyes. He vaguely registers Pansy’s voice next to him.

“Crap not again,” She mutters quietly. Then Draco was gone.

He sees Hermione walking down to the dungeons, the second she gets down the stairs it is total pandemonium. There’s dust everywhere and bits of shrapnel on the ground, they hear screaming and yelling and crying, first years running everywhere, many injured. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick hurry past them, she just manages to duck behind a wall, a broken wall. She keeps moving, hiding easily in the chaos, she makes it to the door of the potions room and looks in. Things are on fire, students badly burned or trapped or just crying or screaming in pain and Slughorn unconscious on the ground, she looks next to what appears to be the centre of it all and sees a child unmoving, Snape reaches down to the girl’s neck to check her pulse before looking up at McGonagall and shaking his head. He turns his head slightly and locks eyes with Hermione, Draco knows she’s been caught, and judging by the fact that she walks forwards, she knows it too. Snape promises she will be in trouble later but for now requests her help in getting the younger students to the hospital.

Then Draco starts seeing the DADA classroom again, feels Blaise and Pansy each holding one of his arms as though to keep him sitting up. They seem to notice him coming out of it.

“Dray, hey there, that’s it, come back to us. No rush,” Pansy tells him, knowing it helps to keep him calm and that he’s still too out of it to really understand her anyway.

“Hey buddy, you with us?” Blaise asks about a minute later when he notices Draco’s eyes focusing more. Draco looks over to him, recognising that he’s being spoken to but not quite comprehending the words.

“Friend,” Draco states, remembering that Blaise is his friend but not quite there enough yet to know who it is specifically.

“Yeah that’s right, good job,” Blaise says smiling encouragingly, Draco looks away to look around the classroom, thinking it seems familiar but not able to remember what it is. His head feels weirdly fuzzy so he reaches up and rubs at his eyes, trying to clear it away. “It’s always so disconcerting, seeing him like this,” Blaise tells Pansy.

“Yeah, let’s just hope this isn’t one of the longer recovery times,” She responds.

“Pansy,” Draco says, distractedly, dreamily.

“Yeah, sweetie?” She asks kindly, knowing how vulnerable he is right now and wanting him to feel safe, even though she knows he won’t recognise any of that.

“You’re Pansy. You’re my friend,” He says as he scrunches his eyes up in concentration.

“Yes, I am,” She responds, noticing the signs of him being a lot more with it than he was just moments ago.

“Ahh, what happened?” He asks, groaning as he presses the heel of his palms into his eyes in an attempt to clear the confusion from his mind.

“Hey, stay calm, getting frustrated will only make it worse and take longer. You checked out again,” Blaise answers, keeping his voice level and calming. Malfoy just nods, he lays his head on his arms over his desk for a moment before Blaise pulls him back into a sitting position, “Sorry Bud, we have to know that you haven’t passed out.”

“Don’t call me that,” Draco snaps, hating how defenceless he feels in these moments. Blaise wisely recognizes this and keeps his mouth shut. Pansy feels her shirt pocket getting hot and pulls out her enchanted parchment.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_How_ _’_ _s he doing? And don_ _’_ _t worry, he told me about these_ _‘_ _episodes_ _’_

_\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Pansy looks up and glances over to Harry who nods his head down to her parchment.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_He_ _’_ _s coming out of it. Should be fine in a couple of minutes._

_\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Good, listen, I need the three of you to meet me in Moaning Myrtle_ _’_ _s bathroom at two am._

_\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Is this one of those things I shouldn_ _’_ _t question?_

_\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

He doesn’t respond, but when she looks up he’s smirking.

_Ring ring, ring ring._

“Sev, is this important?” Remus Lupin asks as he answers his phone, he hears his ex-husband, Severus Snape, sigh at the other end.

“Extremely. What are the chances you can take over DADA for a bit? Couple of weeks at the most.”

“You want me to work in Hogwarts?” Remus asks blandly.

Severus rubs at his forehead in frustration, “Yes.”

“Sev –”

“Yes, I know very well how much you hate the Headmaster, but we don’t have many options here and it’ll give you a chance to actually _see_ our kids. Besides, you and Moony are meshing well so there’s way less danger than last time.”

“Assuming I’m not made to go back on Wolfsbane that is!” Remus whisper yells.

“Why are you whispering?”

“I’m in an old archive doing some research.”

“Research into what?”

“Long story, I thought you were teaching DADA at long last?” There’s silence at the other end for a few moments.

“A girl has died, Remus.”

“Oh Merlin, what happened?” He asks, less horrified than he probably should have been, guess it’s just been one of those…lifetimes, really.

“An explosion, Slughorn’s been fired. Idiot put Polkwood out for the first years instead of Asphodel.”

Remus winces, “How many were injured?”

“Quite a few. I’m taking over Potions again, we need someone to fill the DADA position until we can find a permanent substitute.”

“For Potions or for DADA?”

“DADA, no way am I ever leaving this post again. And I reserve the right to call bullshit anytime you say I’m paranoid about things going wrong with potions.” 

Remus nods though his friend can’t see it. “Hang on, it’s been _twelve days_ since school started up again.”

“He never was the most careful teacher.”

“He started around the same time Dumbledore did, if he were that careless someone would have died years ago.”

“Remus.”

“Yes?”

“You’re being a dick again.”

Remus frowns, “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine, I just haven’t heard you begin falling into tactical mode for a long time. Well, except after Bella…anyway. Will you do it?”

Remus sighs, looking over his research. “You do remember that Death Eaters are still after me, right?”

“Yes, I hear they’ve nearly gotten you a few times since you left.”

“They were closing in, I slipped by them and it’s fine now.”

“They won’t attack in Hogwarts, you’ll be fine.”

“…All right, when do you need me there?”

“Tomorrow night?”

“Severus, I’m in Norway!”

“Are you a wizard or not? Just bloody apparate for Merlin’s sake! It’s not like you’re on the moon!”

Remus’ lip quirks at that, then he’s filled with an overwhelming sadness and bites his lip, only that causes too much pain and loss as well so he stops.

“All right, fine, I’m on my way.”

Remus sends a letter to Harry, knowing it will arrive tomorrow morning, letting him know the situation. His Nephew dislikes very much when he isn’t kept in the loop, and Remus has been particularly bad at it lately.


	5. No One Ever Told You

Chapter 4 – No one Ever Told You

Note: Chapter title from Molly Kate Kestner’s song ‘No one Ever Told You’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters, just my story line.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

_Last time,_

_Good, listen, I need the three of you to meet me in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom at two am._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Is this one of those things I shouldn’t question?_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_He didn’t respond but when she looks up he’s smirking at the page before he puts it away._

Now,

By dinner, Draco is back to his normal self, much to the relief of the others. Hermione has detention every night for a week for disobeying Snape’s order and going into a dangerous environment after being specifically told not to. While the teachers launch a full investigation of the incident, the entire area is closed off, Slughorn is still unconscious.

Harry goes to sleep that night after making sure his wand would wake him at 1:45am. He is pleasantly surprised when he has no nightmares for the first time since Sirius was killed. He gets up and suddenly remembers that his cloak is with the others. He doesn’t see it as a huge hurdle, it’s hardly the first time he’s snuck around the castle at night without it. He gets to the bathroom just before two and waits.

At two he senses his cloak nearby, which he didn’t know he could do but isn’t entirely surprised by. He wonders if his Uncle James could do so as well. Harry feels the familiar, very uncomfortable, feeling always accompanied by any mention of his parentage, but pushes it away.

“Glad you could make it,” He says, they then take the cloak off of them and Harry sees they are standing just inside the door.

“How’d you know we were there?” Pansy whispers. Harry just raises an eyebrow at her, “Right, not asking. So, what’re we doing here?”

“You asked if I knew of a safer place to talk than the astronomy tower,” He explains as he walks towards the sink.

“And you thought the girls’ bathroom is a good place for that?” Draco whispers.

“Now now, patience, Draco,” He replies before saying _“Open”_ in Parseltongue.

“I forgot you’re a Parselmouth,” Draco comments off-handedly before becoming distracted by the entire bloody sink opening up.

“After you,” He says to them. They hesitate, but in the end, one by one, decide to trust him and jump into the hole while trying not to yell out. Pansy fails.

They slide down the pipes before landing in some pit filled with rodent’s bones.

“Gross! Harry what is this place?” Pansy squeals when she lands, they use the lumos spell to light up the place.

“Follow me,” He orders, in lieu of an actual answer. They all groan but follow after him, growing ever more curious. They see a giant snake skin.

“Is this from what I think it is?” Draco asks fearfully.

“Don’t worry, it’s dead,” Harry responds not at all comforting them.

“This place doesn’t seem so stable,” Blaise comments when they come across a caved in area.

“It is, that bit only came down after a misfired spell from a broken wand,” Harry explains, confusing everyone more. Soon enough they come to a large stone door with ornate carvings of snakes.

“Wait, is this…? No, it can’t be!” Draco says disbelievingly.

 _“Open,”_ He says, once more in parseltongue, causing the snakes to move and the door to open.

As they walk down the aisle it becomes abundantly clear where they are.

“The Chamber of Secrets,” Blaise mutters under his breath, “Are you telling me that this place actually opened in second year? Were you truly the heir to Slytherin?”

“What? Of course not! It’s complicated, but it’s probably best I don’t explain how it was opened,” Harry says, not wanting to mention Tom Riddle.

“Could you at least explain that?” Draco asks pointing to the Basilisk body.

“That’s what was petrifying people back in second year. It also killed Moaning Myrtle, and nearly me too,” Harry tells them.

“So why didn’t it? And how’d it die?” Pansy asks as they all walk closer.

“I killed it,” He answers simply, the three gape at him.

“YOU KILLED A FULLY GROWN BASILISK WHEN YOU WERE TWELVE?!” Blaise yells incredulously at him, wincing at the echo, “And it didn’t kill you?” He adds quieter.

“No, it did,” He says, they look at him weirdly, “I mean it would have, see it’s fangs?” He asks them.

“Yeah, looks like one is missing though,” Draco notices.

“That one came off in my arm,” Harry explains.

“You should be dead,” Blaise says to him.

“If I had a nickel for every time someone said that to me,” He says chuckling under his breath, “I’ve been in worse situations than that anyway. But this isn’t why we are here. I thought we could use this place as our… headquarters I guess,” Harry tells them.

“Well it’s not as though anyone but you from this school can get in here. No one else speaks parseltongue. So, it’s a good spot to have. Plus, it’s beautiful, aside from the Basilisk carcass that is,” Pansy says, nodding as she looks around the large cavern.

“I also want to teach you guys how to say open in Parseltongue so that you can get in,” Harry tells them, “But the true reason I wanted to talk to you guys was to say congratulations. They’ll find out what happened and, seeing as a student was killed, Slughorn will have to be fired and possibly have his teaching licence removed. Job well done,” Harry tells them, they all look at him with gaping mouths, “What?” He asks.

“An innocent first year _died_ , and your response is congratulations?” Blaise asks.

“What did you think was going to happen at the end of all this, Mr Zabini? I’m going to kill Dumbledore. What’s the difference between that and this?” Harry asks, growing impatient of Blaise resisting him.

“The difference is that this girl was eleven years old and _defenceless_!” He replies shortly. 

Harry looks oddly pleased, the three Slytherins exchange confused looks, Harry nods.

“I’m not Voldemort. I’m not Dumbledore. I won’t have innocent children dying because of my cause, not if I can help it,” He tells them, sounding entirely calm, “Danielle is not dead. The how and the why I will explain later. But something you should understand now, is this: I wasn’t raised in this world, Zabini. I wasn’t raised to be some saviour. I was raised to survive and do whatever it takes. People have been killed because of me, by me, and that may well happen again in pursuit of this goal. The world isn’t kind, Blaise. I set out on this mission to show Dumbledore that in every way possible; if some other people learn it along the way then so be it.” Draco and Pansy hold their breath, waiting to see how Blaise reacts. The two stare each other down for a few moments, Harry expectantly, Blaise challengingly. 

Eventually Blaise smirks, “If this is going to be our Headquarters then it needs a name we can refer to it by without others understanding, and Pansy is right about us and you needing one too. We’ve been risking a lot so far, been sloppy,” Blaise says, looking right at Harry who nods at him before turning to the others.

“I have some ideas about that by the way,” Pansy says, now deeming it safe to talk.

“Let’s hear it then,” Harry orders.

“Your followers could be called Reapers,” She suggests.

“Kind of close to Death Eaters, but I like it,” Harry responds.

“Well after looking around this place I think I know what we could call this place too. The Graveyard,” Pansy continues, “But I’ve yet to come up with a name for you. Been a little busy blowing up the school,” She explains with a smile.

“I have an idea about that, if I may,” Draco asks, Harry gestures for him to continue, “Inimicus.”

“Oooh I like that,” Pansy says and Blaise nods in approval.

“Inimicus it is. Inimicus and his Reapers planning in the Graveyard, sounds like Cluedo, but it works for me. Now Draco, how’s your task going?” Harry asks.

“You currently have ten people willing to join you, it’s surprisingly unsurprising how many people in this school hate Dumbledore, especially after what he let happen last year,” He informs them.

“If you want to keep recruiting people, may I suggest some security measures to keep your identity secret until the time is right?” Blaise asks.

“Such as?” Harry inquires.

“Such as, they only know you as Inimicus. Only the three of us are in contact with you through parchment and if needed we can lend it to people or pass on messages. Apart from these meetings, only Draco is in contact with you through other means. When we have meetings involving the others, you wear a disguise. I have other ideas but those are the basics,” He explains. Harry ponders this for a moment as he looks over the Basilisk corpse, running a hand along the back of it. Such a powerful beast, defeated by a child. One must never underestimate a possible threat, nor can one assume they are so powerful as to be untouchable, unbeatable. It will always be Voldemort’s downfall, just as it was four years ago. No weapon is without weakness, nor is a person. Not when they are alone.

“Alright. Here’s the plan. Blaise you’re in charge of security, you’re to make a full plan of what measures need to be taken in regards to recruitment and anything else you can think of. Draco, you are going to continue working with the people you know of and you’re to bring Pansy along. She’ll be taking over recruitment because she’s slightly less hated than you are. Make it a smooth transition. When we have more uh, Reapers, Draco you will be in charge of delegating the tasks I give you out to them. We’ll meet here again in a week and discuss progress, Blaise I want to hear your report of security measures then. Also, Draco, I would like a list of the people you are working with in my possession somehow by Dinner tomorrow, or today I suppose. Any questions?” Harry asks.

“No Sir,” Blaise and Draco answer at the same time while Pansy responds with “Yes sir.”

“Go on,” Harry says looking at her.

“Our task with Slughorn is completed, and I realise you’ve given us others to do with organizing our cause, but on the Dumbledore front, what are we to do next?” Pansy asks. He considers this for a moment.

“Nothing for now. I need to see how the dust settles after this and tie up a loose end,” Harry tells them.

“Yes sir,” She replies. Harry spends the next hour teaching them to say open in parseltongue. Apparently, it is very difficult for people who are not parselmouths to pronounce words in the language. They then all head back to their common rooms.

That day during his free period, Harry goes down to Hagrid’s hut.

“’Arry, it’s good to see ya,” Hagrid says when he opens his door to let Harry in, he doesn’t seem like his usual cheerful self.

“Hello Hagrid, sorry it’s been a while, I’ve been rather busy,” Harry replies as he watches Hagrid move to sit down.

“I’d say. Now ‘Arry, I shouldn’t be telling you anything of the investigation going on in the school, but I rather think you already know,” Hagrid tells him suspiciously.

“I don’t know what you mean Hagrid,” Harry states coolly.

“Oh, you don’t, do you? Well you see Professor Snape is a rather brilliant man, cold sure, but brilliant. You know what he tells the teachers was the cause of the incident? Polkwood, someone added Polkwood to their potion. Slughorn’s gonna be in all kinds of trouble when he wakes up, but I don’t reckon it’s his fault. Wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you ‘Arry?” Harry turns away to look out of the window as Hagrid speaks, he grabs his wand out of his sleeve.

“Did you tell anyone?” Harry asks calmly, though waiting anxiously for the answer.

“No, I wanted to give you a chance to explain. But a girl died ‘Arry, and I ‘elped it happen. There’s not much that you could say to me to make that better,” He answers truthfully.

“I know,” Harry replies solemnly as he turns and quickly points his wand at Hagrid while muttering a quiet “Obliviate.” He then returns the wand to his sleeve as Hagrid regains his senses.

“’Arry? What’re you doing here?” Hagrid asks, Harry plasters a smile on his face as he moves forwards to hug the man.

“Just came for a visit, it’s been a while,” He replies. He stays there mindlessly chatting with Hagrid for an hour before heading back up to school.

That day at lunch,

Harry’s sitting in his usual seat next to Ginny, he is wondering why everyone seems so sad when he remembers that a student just ‘died’ and many more were injured. Soon, Dumbledore gets everyone’s attention so that he can give a speech.

“Yesterday, a very tragic thing happened. Danielle Smigin was killed in an accident in her potions class. You are all aware that many others, including Professor Slughorn, were injured. The Professor woke up earlier today and, as much as it pains me to say it, he’s been dismissed from his teaching position.” He pauses after that as the whole school gasps and starts whispering. “Now it’s important you understand that he made a mistake, that’s all, but unfortunately it resulted in something truly horrible. Professor Snape will once again be teaching potions, beginning tomorrow, for the foreseeable future. The role of Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher will be temporarily filled once again by Remus Lupin, who shall be arriving later tonight. I am aware that some of you may have your reservations about this, so let me assure you that every precaution is being taken to keep everyone, including him, safe. I expect you all to treat him with the same respect that you would any other teacher. That is all,” Dumbledore says before leaving the hall rather dramatically.

“Professor Lupin is coming back? Harry, did you know?” Ginny asks him immediately after the door closes behind Dumbledore.

“I got a letter from Remus this morning but, I haven’t read it yet,” Harry says as he grabs the letter from his pocket and opens it. He hadn’t read it simply because he got distracted with everything.

_Harry,_

_I thought you’d appreciate some warning, due to the school’s recent tragedy I am temporarily coming back to teach._

_Shocking I know, apparently I was the only person they could get on such short notice._

_I’ll come see you when I arrive._

_Your Friend,_

_Remus Lupin_

Harry shows the note to the others after he reads it. They are all thrilled, but Harry can only think of the threat this poses to his cause. Unless he can somehow convince Remus to help him out? He’d have to discuss it with the others, though how he will do that after Remus arrives, he’s no idea.

That afternoon Harry is sitting on his bed, seeing as classes had been cancelled for the day, waiting for Remus to show up on the Marauders’ map. Harry runs out as soon as he does, gesturing for Hermione and Ron to follow as he runs past them. He sprints the whole way, yelling apologies to the many people he knocks into without stopping. He makes it to the front door just as it opens.

“REMUS! Ouch, sorry,” The black haired boy says after failing to stop before running into him. Remus chuckles as Harry helps him up and hugs him, he hugs him back.

“It’s quite all right, Harry. Miss Granger?” He watches the other two walk up in a more rational manner, but Hermione gives him pause. He knows it’s her, recognises her scent and can see the resemblance, but she doesn’t look much like she used to. She’s paler, her hair is a white-blonde, her eyes are pale green, and he realises at once who she is, fighting back the gasp of surprise. “Nice to see you again Hermione, and you Ron.” The three seem very confused and surprised, he’s never called her Hermione before. It reminded him too much of his lost God-Daughter, but now it’s not just a reminder. She _is_ Hermione Black. Hermione, being in foster care, had quite liked people calling her Granger, it reminded her of the family she had found…and now lost. But since she is the only one Remus calls by their last name, or previous last name, she had worried he didn’t like her. Clearly, something more is going on, she wonders if she truly wants to know. “Harry, would you mind if I came in and was able to shut the door?”

“Right sorry, of course. Here let me help you with that,” Harry says as he steps back and picks up the case that Remus dropped when Harry tackled him. Remus smiles and thanks him.

Remus swallows nervously as he steps further into the castle, he’d never wanted to come back here. He knew he’d have to face Albus again eventually, he has to deal with Ariana at some point after all, but he’d never thought it would be like this.

“Thank you, Harry.”

“Severus, you can’t do that.” They all turn towards the sound of Minerva McGonagall’s voice. They see her and Severus walking through the corridor towards them.

“Why not, Minnie?”

“Because that’s not how it works!”

“Isn’t the whole point that they are animals, though?”

“I still don’t think it would work.”

“We could find out…?”

“You know James told me about the last time you performed that spell.” Severus scratches the back of his head awkwardly. Harry swallows down the feelings James Potter’s name brings up.

“That was Harry’s fault, no matter what Lily thought.”

“What was my fault?” Harry asks them, surprised to hear his Potions Master speaking of his supposed ‘parents’, let alone _him_.

“Just something that happened while Remus and I were babysitting you and Neville once.”

“You two babysat me?” Harry asks, surprised. 

Remus looks at him in mild confusion, “Yes, Harry, of course we did. Anyway, what are you two debating?” Harry internally scoffs. How was he to know? It’s not as though they tell him anything about when he was young, when they were still family. He forces away the sudden surge of anger, unsure where it came from but deciding to ignore it.

“Whether vera verto will work on an Animagus in animal form or not,” Severus replies, “Minnie doesn’t think it would.”

“They aren’t actually animals!”

“Humans are animals, animagi appear as animals enough to hide from Dementors, and most ways of scanning an area.”

“Why don’t you just transform and find out?” Remus suggests.

Minerva shakes her head, “The last time I let his magic anywhere near me I was fifteen years old. Again.” 

Severus winces as the Golden Trio exchange shocked looks. “James’ fault.”

“It was not!” Remus defends, “You were being an idiot too. Minnie’s better at Transfiguration anyway, Sev, why don’t you transform and she can try it.”

“Because the whole Zombie thing could flub the results,” Severus explains.

Remus nods, “Oh yeah, good point. Guess you’ll both just have to agree to disagree. Now can I make it past the entrance hall?”

“You’re an Animagus, sir?” Hermione asks Severus as they start walking, he nods, “Wicked.” All present frown at her, Remus wonders what exactly happened to her that hid her appearance, and what changed. Hermione internally sighs, hating that the disillusionment spell was cast. She’s been discovered, but can she truly let go of the persona she has built around herself? Things keep slipping through now and she feels out of control. Feeling the tremor return in her hands, she clasps them behind her back in an effort to hide that from Ron and Harry.

“What happened while you were babysitting me?” Harry asks, noticing Hermione looking uncomfortable and deciding to change the subject, even if it means speaking of something he doesn’t care to hear. 

Remus chuckles slightly, “Your first word, first bit of accidental magic, a fire, Sev transfigured your cat, we drenched a room, and Lily made a comment about Sev being gay that he obsessed over for months.”

“I did not obsess over it for months,” Severus mutters, looking annoyed. Harry looks at the man. He knows he’s his Godfather, but sometimes he forgets he’s anything other than a bitter dungeon bat, that he’s a person who lives a life outside of the castle.

“Then Lily didn’t believe us about any of it and lectured us for a good ten minutes. We tried to explain what had happened but she was all ‘right, I forgot, _Harry_ did it, right?’.”

“To be fair he was six-months-old, it was a tad unbelievable,” Severus points out.

“Certainly didn’t help that you didn’t speak again for a few months.”

“Oh he did, said it again to James and Sirius the next day, but Lily was still muttering angrily every time we entered a room so they decided not to tell her because it was too funny,” Severus tells him.

Remus smiles sadly, “Figures.”

“What was it? My first word I mean?” Harry questions, curiosity growing despite his best efforts at convincing himself he doesn’t care.

“Bambi,” Remus tells him.

Harry remembers Jamie saying that their family used to call him that but she hadn’t known why. “Not Mama or Dada?” He asks.

“You know, I don’t know a single child whose first words were actually one of those. Bill’s was toast, Charlie’s was ‘that’ while pointing at a dragon, Percy’s was ‘peas’ though he was technically trying to say please, George’s first word was ‘Fred’ and six weeks later Fred’s first word was ‘fun’, Jamie’s was ‘pudding’ screamed at the top of her lungs, Ron’s was ‘no’, and Dora’s was…well…not Mama or Dada.” 

Ron looks up in surprise at him knowing what his first word was. “Do you know Ginny’s?” Ron asks curiously.

Remus shakes his head, “No, Molly was still pregnant with her when…when we fell out of contact.”

“So wait, you actually _knew_ me when I was a baby?” Ron asks, Remus looks mildly amused as he nods. “Huh.”

“Weird, isn’t it?” Harry comments.

Hermione snickers, “You realise Ginny mentioned this on the train when we first met Remus, right?”

Ron rolls his eyes, “How am I supposed to remember every conversation I had three years ago?”

“Out of curiosity, is Tonks aware of what her first word was?” Severus asks, ignoring the squabbling teenagers.

“Drom still complains about it, so I’d assume so, like it’s my fault somehow.”

Severus chuckles, opening the door in front of him, “Your room, good Sir.”

“Why thank you, Monsieur.” The two say dramatically, they hear a huff of exasperation and turn around to see Blaise and Daphne. Remus smiles and waves them over, ignoring the collective groan from the three Gryffindors. 

Minerva looks between Remus and Blaise before sighing, “I’m going to temporarily forget we’re in a school and a professional setting for thirty seconds,” She tells them. Remus beams as he lifts his arms towards Blaise.

Blaise immediately rushes over and hugs Remus who holds him close.

“I missed you, Re,” Blaise tells him, he nods. Harry can’t help the gentle smile that crosses his face. He might be off-put by a lot of things concerning these people, and he might wish things were different as he watches this boy have a close relationship with someone Harry should have as well, but he won’t ever begrudge someone else for their happiness.

“I missed you too.” Remus releases him and frowns at his head.

Blaise grins, “I win.”

Remus glares good-naturedly, “It’ll grow back you know,” He tells him, referring to the hair Blaise shaved off that he now can’t ruffle.

“Nice to see you, Remus,” Daphne says, Remus smiles at her. Ron notices McGonagall and Snape exchanging looks and realises that the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. He can tell the other two Professors are worried about him, now Ron is too. He’d sworn to himself he would do everything he could to make sure Remus is never hurt again after George told him about the first war, but so far had done a piss-poor job of it. Not that the man makes it easy for him, disappearing as he does on a regular basis.

“And you, how’s your sister?”

Daphne rolls her eyes, “Probably doing something perfectly.”

“Well of course she is, she always does,” He tells her, she seems a little crestfallen. “She’s had you to teach and guide her, what else would she be doing?”

Daphne blushes a little and smiles, “Thanks Remus.”

He smiles at her a little more genuinely, “You’d best be off to the dungeons, both of you,” He tells the boy he thinks of as his son and the girl he has helped to raise as well. They nod, both darting in for one more hug before heading off.

“We should be off too, we’ll see you at dinner,” Hermione tells her Professor. Remus nods, waving to the three of them as they leave, Harry feeling more sure than ever that he needs to bring Dumbledore down. His first word was Bambi, and he should have grown up being reminded of the entire incident at the expense of his Uncles. Perhaps he does blame Dumbledore after all…

“I’ll leave you to get settled in,” Minerva tells Remus, nodding and leaving. Severus walks into Remus’ new room and takes a seat, Remus shakes his head fondly as he joins him.

“All right, lay it on me,” Remus directs as he shuts the door.

“What the hell were you thinking, running off like that? Where have you _been_?!”

“Around.”

“In Norway!”

“All right, far around. I’ve been all over the place, as I will be continuing as soon as the permanent replacement is found.”

“Tonks told me what happened at the meeting, what she knew anyway.”

Remus sighs, sitting beside him on the bed, “I can’t explain, not here. When there’s time I’ll tell you everything, literally everything. So long as you swear it goes no further than us, no matter what.”

Severus seems mildly nervous but nods, “All right. But Remus, how much of this has to do with Sirius and Bella?”

“Severus, I got over Trixie a long time ago.”

“That was before we found out she was conspiring against Voldemort.”

“It doesn’t change what she did to me. Her fault or not, that is all she could ever be to me. The only thing her death did was give me a lead and the truth. As for Sirius…it has a lot to do with him, of course it does. But I can’t say more on that, not here.”

Severus nods, “Remus, all the evidence we had, particularly after he escaped, how much of you believing he was innocent was because you loved him?” Severus half expects him to deny the depth of his feelings, but Remus doesn’t, merely wipes away the tears that begin falling.

“Believing him innocent? None of it. Helping him that year? Everything.”

“What do you mean?”

Remus curls in on himself slightly, “Do you remember when Phia was kidnapped?” Severus nods, confused about how that is relevant. “While she was gone I remembered something Sirius once said, about how the Marauders would be with me when Derek got out, that was the first time I ever considered he might be guilty. I realised…”

“You realised?”

Remus sighs, looking conflicted and ashamed, “I realised it didn’t matter, I didn’t care.”

“Y-What?”

“It wouldn’t change anything. I realised that everyone had been wrong in thinking that if it would reach my goal, win us the war or whatever, that I’d turn on all of you, if I really believed it was worth it. Everyone had been wrong because I would never turn on him. I realised that he was the most important person to ever exist, to me at least, except our children. I stupidly then remembered all the times I’d said Peter was my best friend and thought maybe I was wrong, maybe Sirius was after all. I didn’t realise I was in love him. Thinking he was innocent had nothing to do with that, I’d have helped him either way, and I hate myself for that, I really do.” Severus wraps an arm around him as he starts crying in earnest. “I’m sorry Sev, I’m so sorry.”

“Remus, I gave the Death Eaters the moral reversal spell.” Remus looks up at him in shock through his tears. He’d known this, of course, but he didn’t think Severus would ever say it. “It was just after I let you guys go with those plans. Voldemort pointed out that while he couldn’t hurt or kill Regulus, he could make him do horrible things he’d never forgive himself for. That I’d better do something helpful or I’ll be more trouble than I’m worth. I gave him the spell in an effort to protect Regulus. After what happened to Bella, well no one had seen whichever one of them it was cast it again when they tried to reverse it. So when Voldemort demanded to know what went wrong, I pointed out that I’d warned him we never finished it, that we’d abandoned it. It had never been tested, and I had told him that. The spell was never used again. My point is, I get it. I mean I’m a little bit unhappy that said realisation of him being the most important thing happened while married to me, but, I knew going in I could never be him, even if you didn’t know at the time that that’s what you were looking for.”

“Did Regulus’ death ever stop hurting?” Remus asks him, looking desperate, Severus just holds him tighter. “Severus…about Trixie…” Severus looks at him, Remus sighs, pulling the letter out of his pocket and handing it to him.

“Oh…” Severus comments breathlessly, horror and regret etched into his face, “Oh Remus, I’m so sorry. They…Merlin, I didn’t know that they… and then he – and, oh geez.” Severus pulls Remus into his arms and holds him, they sit in silence for a while.

“No matter what I do, I just feel alone,” Remus admits quietly.

Severus turns his head to him, “You aren’t alone, you’ve never been alone.” As the two gaze into each other’s eyes they lean forwards, neither sure who started it, and then they are kissing. Suddenly it’s like no time has passed, like their marriage didn’t fall apart, like years of distrust and bad decisions have melted away and they are together again.

Neither hear the door open as things progress further, neither see Draco and Pansy poke their heads in only to freeze. Neither notice them exchange disturbed looks as they silently close the door and hurry away. They are far too wrapped up in each other for any of that.

At Dinner, Remus’ arrival is announced as he takes his place at the teacher’s table. The elder years of all houses cheering along with the frantically happy clapping of a first year Hufflepuff, Benoit Lupin.

Draco, Pansy, and Blaise exchange looks, hoping that Harry has a plan. Draco looks over to Harry who appears to be writing on something, then Draco feels a familiar burning sensation in his pocket, he grabs out his Parchment and sees _Graveyard @3_ on it. He shows the other two before putting it away.

Remus is quite proud of how every single one of his old students is glad to have him back, every single one. There were fearful looks from the younger years that he never taught, more than a few disgusted and angry ones as well, but none from the people who know him and that makes him happy. Well, happier than he was, anyway. Being back at Hogwarts wasn’t exactly helping him with recent events. Remus looks to Severus who smiles at him. The two had spoken after…events took place. They both knew they wouldn’t get back together, couldn’t. They understood that what happened was a needed comfort and nothing more, but it also healed a distance that had grown between them since the war restarted. They could be there for each other again, and Remus once more had someone who knows everything, someone he doesn’t have secrets with. Well…almost.

He’s also interested, though not at all surprised, to see that Benoit is a Hufflepuff. He hasn’t spoken to his Son since Sirius died, suddenly that absence fills him and he hates himself for it. He should have been around for his Son’s sorting. He should have dropped him off at the Hogwarts Express for the first time. He should have been there for his Son. After all, Remus isn’t the only one who lost something, and he should have paid more attention to that fact.

While looking out at the sea of students, Remus notices the odd looks Pansy, Blaise, Draco are sending each other, and the worried look Draco sends Harry, the latter of which is particularly bothersome. What on Earth could be happening that had the four on the same side? Could it have something to do with what really happened in Slughorn’s class? 

After dinner, Remus returns to his room to find Benoit sitting on his bed. His son rushes over to him as he walks in, Remus wraps his arms around him tightly.

“Don’t go, not again, not completely,” Benni requests quietly.

Remus looks at him in shock and shakes his head, “I won’t, I promise. I am so sorry,” He tells him, unable to help the tears that fall. He hugs him close again and swears to himself that in every way that counts, he won’t ever let go.

That night, Harry uses the map to safely get to the entry point of the Chamber. He’s about half way there when he feels a tap on his shoulder, he spins around lightning fast and silently casts everte statum on instinct. He hears a groan and aims his wand at it, saying a quick Lumos, he immediately recognises the figure slumped at the bottom of the wall he hit.

“Remus, oh sweet Merlin, I am so sorry, I thought you were someone else,” Harry says quickly as he helps his friend up.

“Like who? Lord Voldemort?” Remus replies incredulously while brushing himself off.

“Well I don’t know, it wouldn’t be the first time! You didn’t show up on the map, actually it says you’re in your office, so naturally I panicked,” Harry says finding his logic perfectly reasonable.

“Yes, well, many years ago James and Sirius were worried about what would happen if the map fell into the wrong hands and created a spell that would hide them from view,” The Werewolf explains.

“Okaaay…but why were you using it?” Harry asks suspiciously, trying to hide the anxiety in his voice at the prospect of having already been found out. 

Remus can’t really understand how _he’s_ the suspicious one here. “Because you were behaving oddly earlier and I thought you might be up to something,” He answers strongly.

“Well I’m not,” Harry tells him simply. 

Remus all but rolls his eyes, “Then why is it, exactly, that you’re out so late and so jumpy?” Remus questions with a voice that suggests he thinks Harry is an idiot for even trying to tell him that.

“I couldn’t sleep. I decided to go for a walk. I thought I was alone until something came out of the dark and touched my shoulder,” He lies, voice full of annoyance.

“Why couldn’t you sleep?” Remus asks him in a fatherly tone that pisses Harry off to the max, though Harry isn’t exactly sure why.

“I don’t see how it’s any of your business. You aren’t my father and you aren’t Sirius, so stop trying to be,” Harry angrily replies, then internally curses because James Potter is not his Father and Sirius failed to be his Dad so what does it matter what title one does or does not possess? Remus looks as though he’s just been slapped in the face as he remembers a time when things were so very different.

_“Hey Bambi,” Remus says, kissing the child on the head, said child looks at him, and smiles._

_“Un Moo,” Harry calls happily, Remus beams at the boy, booping his nose and making the child giggle._

_“I love you Harry,” Remus tells the child._

_“Unca, Un Moo,” Harry tells James, James smiles and nods._

_“We’ll see you later Un Moo,” James tells him._

“Harry, I know you are upset about Sirius, but you aren’t the only one who lost him, or James,” He tells Harry harshly, Harry spares a small amount of appreciation for the fact that Remus didn’t call James his Dad. “I’m only trying to be there for you Harry, it’s a hard time for all of us and I don’t want you to do anything rash out of grief or because you aren’t thinking clearly.”

Harry looks affronted and takes a step closer to Remus, unknowingly proving Remus’ point.

“I am perfectly in control of myself and even if I did do something rash, I’d get myself out of it because _that’s what I do_. I look after myself because no one else ever has or ever will, anyone who _tries_ ENDS UP DEAD!” Harry says loudly, not caring if they are in the middle of a corridor and someone might hear.

“I’m not dead,” Remus says simply.

Harry’s glare deepens, “I am fine on my own, I don’t need you. So stay away from me,” Harry replies hotly before storming away down the corridor. Either Remus was too shocked to stop him or didn’t see it as important because Harry makes it to the bathroom without further delays. As he walks in he sees that the entrance to the Chamber has been left open which reminds him that he needs to teach the others to say close as well.

He heads down to the Chamber, still fuming. As soon as he enters he sees the others sitting in the middle of the room, waiting silently for him. Draco notices him first and stands up quickly, the other two follow suit.

“Where have you been? It’s 3:30,” Draco tells him.

“Since when do I have to explain myself to you Malfoy?” Harry snaps, making his friend recoil and the other two flinch. Harry let’s out a sigh as his anger deflates, “I ran into Remus on the way here, long story short but he isn’t my biggest fan right now, however he has no idea about any of this,” Harry tells them, Draco figures that’s as much of an apology as he’s likely to get. Seeing the others’ relief, Harry continues, “Now I know we were all worried about what impact his presence would have on the mission, but I’m not sure it will. Either we can totally leave him out of it, or, we can recruit him. See I think we can turn him against Dumbledore, if we so choose. All of you know him better than I do, so I need your opinions. Bring him in, or leave him out of it?” He asks them, forcing himself to think as impartially as possible. They think for a while.

“He does hate Dumbledore already, and we always intended to bring adults into this eventually anyway, but how seriously is Uncle Remus really going to take a bunch of Hogwarts students when they start talking about a new cause and Dumbledore’s execution? Family or no,” Draco questions.

“Voldemort was a Hogwarts student once, not that Remus knows that,” Harry mutters.

“Doesn’t he?” A voice asks from the entrance of the chamber, they all turn to look and see said Uncle standing there, looking rather disappointed and unimpressed.

“Remus?”


	6. It Takes One To Know One

It Takes One to Know One

Chapter 5 – It Takes One To Know One

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“I’m only trying to be there for you Harry, it’s a hard time for all of us and I don’t want you to do anything rash out of grief or because you aren’t thinking clearly.” Harry looks affronted and takes a step closer to Remus, unknowingly proving Remus’ point._

Now,

“I am fine on my own, I don’t need you. So stay away from me.” With that, he turns and storms off. Remus just nods to himself, giving Harry a head start, and then continues to follow him. He’s up to something, and whatever it is, it isn’t good.

Eventually Harry disappears into the girl’s bathroom. Remus vaguely recalls Severus mentioning something about Harry being in one when fighting a troll and hopes this isn’t a habit of his. He pokes his head around a corner to find out where he went, only to see the sink closing over a giant arse hole.

“What the fuck?!” Remus exclaims, he hears a giggle as a familiar looking girl floats over. “Oh, Myrtle.”

“Remy! Merlin, it’s been years, how’s life?”

Remus gapes at her, still trying to grasp the fact that someone he knew…is a ghost. “I-uh, hard. Listen, my nephew just jumped into that hole, didn’t he?”

“Harry? Yes, three others did before him too. I’m no tattle tale, I wouldn’t normally say anything but, for an old friend, I suppose I could be a little more…cooperative.”

“Myrtle, are you flirting with me?” She giggles again, he sighs, “What’s down there?” She looks frightened suddenly, and sad. Letting out some keening moan, she floats away. It clicks in Remus’ head, “The Chamber of Secrets?”

“YES THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS!” Myrtle suddenly screams at him, even as he flinches back she turns mopey again.

“ _Open_ ,” Remus says in parseltongue, suddenly glad James had bullied poor Tom into teaching him to say it. Plenty of passageways engraved in snakes or covered by green and silver tapestries had been discovered after that, Del had not been impressed with either of them. Remus smiles sadly as he remembers Sirius finding the whole thing hilarious, he and Lily had laughed at James and Tom endlessly.

Remus snaps out of his memories to find the sink open again and sighs.

“I’m jumping down there, aren’t I?” He asks himself aloud, then nods, “Yes, yes I am. Bugger me,” He curses himself before jumping.

Remus travels through rat skeletons and god knows what else before finding a seal, covered in snakes, only this one is already open. He silently listens, able to overhear the conversation.

“We always intended to bring adults into this eventually anyway, but how seriously is Uncle Remus really going to take a bunch of Hogwarts students when they start talking about a new cause and Dumbledore’s execution? Family or no,” Draco’s voice questions, _Um…WHAT THE EVER LIVING FUCK?!_ Remus internally screams, fighting to keep his breathing even. Sure, he wants Dumbledore dead more than any of them, but what the hell are they thinking? They can’t do this alone!

 _Then don’t let them_ , A voice sounding suspiciously like Sirius’ says in his head, Remus bites his lip, unsure what to do.

“Voldemort was a Hogwarts student once, not that Remus knows that,” Harry mutters, Remus just about dies inside, because he does know that, and Dammit, Harry should have known the entire time! Because Tom is his Father and Harry should know. He should know that he didn’t lose his God-Father three months ago, he lost his Dad! He should _know_. Remus has heard bloody enough, he _will not_ lose anyone else. Not like he did Sirius, and certainly not like he did Tom!

“Doesn’t he?” Remus asks as he walks out from the entrance, unsurprised to see Pansy and Blaise present as well. All of them look at him in abject terror.

“Remus?” Harry asks, totally shocked and a little scared, “How long have you been standing there?”

“I followed you in Harry. Our argument didn’t change the fact that I had followed you for a reason, you were up to something. I wasn’t expecting it to be this though. I’ll have you know I know exactly who Voldemort is, I watched him become the man he is today. He used to be kind, used to want to help people. But he was influenced, corrupted, and eventually possessed. He went down a dark path, much like you are now Harry,” Remus tells them in a controlled voice as he walks towards them, “Much like you all are.”

“You knew Voldemort when he was at Hogwarts?” Pansy asks, she stopped calling him the Dark Lord after watching Harry for just a few days, Harry really was like younger version of him, it humanized Voldemort for her.

“You told me once that you used to be friends,” Blaise comments.

Remus nods, “He was important to me, he was family, and I watched him destroy himself and everything good in his life. When he went down this road we all wished we could help him, but other factors had to be considered. A lot of things happened that can never be explained, I gave up on him, most everyone from those days did. We refused to follow him down…I won’t make the same mistake again,” He explains to them, the last bit slowly as though only just having decided on it.

“What does that mean?” Draco asks hesitantly, worrying that he’s going to turn them in. 

Remus seems to debate something one last time before a determined glint fills his eye and he nods. “It means I’m in. I told you Harry, I’m trying to be there for you. I promised Sirius that should anything happen to him, I would look after you and watch out for you. I failed that once, I won’t again. So, if this is the path you’ve chosen for yourself, then I’m going down it too,” Remus tells them, they all turn to look expectantly at Harry.

“No,” Harry says.

“No?” They all simultaneously ask.

“No. This was too easy, there’s something you aren’t saying and I won’t put everything I’m building here at risk because I wanted so much for this to be true. I won’t jeopardise everything because I don’t want to lose you Moony,” Harry says, unsure why he used that name but deciding to trust the instinct, “So whatever it is you’re hiding from me, tell me, now.” The three Slytherins turn to look at their Professor waiting for his answer. 

Remus falls silent for a moment, then says something they didn’t expect at all.

“I want Dumbledore dead too.” The look at him in surprise. Sure, Pansy, Blaise, and Draco know he doesn’t like him but, wanting him dead? They hadn’t known he was capable of that. Remus means to stop there, but he can’t, not now he’s started, and suddenly words keep tumbling out, “The only reason I haven’t eaten him is because the one time I tried, Padfoot got in my way. Albus and I, we’ve never gotten along, not since I was a boy, and believe me when I say that is mutual between the two of us. He’s a liar, everything people see is just a façade and they follow after him like pigs to the slaughter. I left the Order because I couldn’t stand it, or him, any longer,” He explains through clenched teeth, he takes a breath, calming himself again before holding his head up and looking at Harry, waiting for the boy to decide his fate.

“There’s more, isn’t there?” Harry asks expectantly.

Remus hesitates for a moment before nodding. “We lied to you, we all did. I-It wasn’t intentional. Had things gone as they should have you would have grown up knowing the truth, but without us there to tell you…”

Harry frowns, wondering if Remus is about to come clean at last. “So tell me now.”

“I…” Remus trails off. 

Harry feels anger fill him again, he won’t allow Remus to hide behind this lie, he won’t allow such cowardice. He’s had enough of it all. No more.

“Speak!” Harry demands shocking Remus by the sudden change, he’s never known Harry to lose his temper. 

He shakes it off, he’s a Gryffindor after all and he will not be cowed. Even so, he takes a moment before continuing, debating how to say it, debating how much Sirius would hate him for this. However, he truly believed in his bones, that Sirius, and Harry’s other parents, would want Remus helping Harry if he could not be talked out of this. Remus knows he won’t back down, and truthfully, Remus doesn’t want him too. He _wants_ Dumbledore to suffer, wants him to die, and Harry is giving him a perfect excuse to do so. He won’t give that up.

“Everything you think you know about yourself is a lie your mother, along with your aunt and uncle, made up to keep you safe. It should have been you who decided hiding it is no longer necessary, you who chose whether or not to accept the burden of it all. I want to give you that choice back.” He pauses for a moment, “You have three parents, and only one of them is dead. Your Aunt Lily and Uncle James are the ones who were killed.” 

Harry freezes. _Three_ parents? “I don’t understand,” Harry admits after shocked silence had filled the air for longer than he deems necessary.

“You aren’t Harry Potter. That’s just the name that was given to you when your Mother made the decision to hide you from the world. You were in danger, so she and Lily and James came up with a plan to keep you safe, one that hid from everyone who you truly are. Everyone but you, or such was the plan.” Harry turns away to face the giant stone face. Jamie had said she didn’t remember everything, didn’t remember why the secrecy. Apparently, there was a lot she hadn’t known. Harry steels himself before daring to ask the obvious, looking only far enough back to give him a side glance.

“So, who am I then?” He asks.

“Your name is Harrison James Riddle-Potter-Black,” Remus tells them, everyone looks shocked, except Harry, he still isn’t facing them, he’s just looking up at the stone carving with a blank face. Harry feels his blood run cold because he understands now, understands why the secrecy, understands why Jamie didn’t know. Suddenly he wonders whether he wants to hear this at all, but he will not run from the truth. It has been hidden for too long. He is done waiting.

“Who is my mother?” Harry says, voice void of emotion. He doesn’t bother to pretend he hasn’t deduced who the third parent is, nor does he deny knowing about Sirius. What he _isn’t_ sure on, is how they are both his Father.

“Your mother…well, perhaps I should start at the beginning,” Remus says, furrowing his brow before clearing his throat and beginning again, “James Potter had a younger sister, her name is Delilah Potter, she goes by Del.”

“Del? As in Del Black? Sirius’ wife?” Harry asks, not sounding at all surprised.

“Yes. She and your Father went to school together. She was in her seventh year when she fell pregnant, unfortunately it was just before the pregnancy that your father started changing. Del wanted to help him but he wasn’t her priority anymore, you were. She decided that the best way to keep you safe was to keep you far away from him, naturally she turned to her big brother for help, but it was Lily who suggested she move in with them. James pulled her out of school and, after you were born, Del suggested they fabricate everything. Sirius did everything he could to help her, he had been in love with her for years but had also always known that in a choice between he and Tom, he wasn’t even in the running. He and Del were very close friends though, as were Sirius and Tom. Made it all worse in the end,” Remus tells them, it being the first time he’s ever been able to tell the story, “Your birth father is Tom Marvolo Riddle, as I’m sure you guessed. Your stepfather, your Dad, is, or was, Sirius.” Harry tries to wrap his head around this. Sirius had been one thing, and Del he supposed he could have worked out on his own, knowing they were married. But Voldemort is his Father? How could no one have told him? How could this be true?

“So, wait, my Father is the one who got Sirius thrown in Azkaban? He killed my Aunt and Uncle? He tried to kill me? He’s the reason I ended up at the Dursley’s? Well that’s just great, finds out I’m not an orphan but my Dad _gave me this scar_. HE USED THE KILLING CURSE ON ME!” Harry yells angrily as he turns back to face them.

“Sirius was your Dad, Tom is the man your Mother ran from, but yes. Yes, he did, and you killed a little girl. What did Danielle do to you anyway?” Remus asks Harry incredulously, unable to reconcile the young man in front of him with the boy he had last seen. He’s not an idiot, it’s no coincidence that this is all happening at once. “Interestingly, Hagrid seems to not remember the day that happened at all. Seems to think it took a while before someone came to tell him but I don’t think that’s true. I think someone made him forget.” Remus looks at Harry as calmly as he can at the moment. “Where’d you get the Polkwood, Harry?”

Blaise, Pansy, and Draco start talking at once, denying his allegations while simultaneously demanding explanations from Harry.

Harry internalises everything he has just learnt. It doesn’t matter anymore than knowing the truth about Sirius did. He’s glad Remus told him, and perhaps that changes things with Remus, but the time for that family ended long ago and all Harry can do is move forward. Always forward. He walks further away from them so that he can address all of them.

“Alright listen up. I think you are forgetting how this works. I order you to do something you do it, and you don’t question my actions. I’ve never claimed to be some golden boy saviour, that was the rest of the world. I am Inimicus, Enemy to all who stand against me. Our numbers are growing, so it’s time for you all to remember your place in them. Now we’ve already agreed to meet here in six days time. You all have your assignments to do. One of you catch Remus up on what’s happened,” Harry says before stalking off towards some pipes.

“Where’s he going?” Pansy asks after he walks out of hearing range, or so she thinks.

“Presumably to plan the demise of his enemies, I suggest we do as he says, best we stay off that list after all,” Blaise tells them. Harry, standing in a pipe listening, hears this and nods to himself. Sounds like Blaise is finally falling into line. Now Harry’s plans can really begin, after all, you don’t do all this just to kill one man… Harry smirks as he continues walking away.

Little Benni Lupin sits by the window in his dorm room, waiting for the sun to set. His friend died a few days ago. Or so everyone else believed. Danielle and Benni had met on the boats to Hogwarts where, after discovering both speak sign language, they began talking about everything. After being told his name and confirming that his Père is the Werewolf Remus Lupin, which Benni had all but dared her to have a problem with, she had cautiously admitted a truth she had been so afraid of having to keep. She too was a Werewolf. After that, the two had really hit it off, and in the eleven days prior to the explosion, the two had grown inseparable. It felt to Benni as though the limb he lost when his Brother betrayed them had regrown and fit him better than the other ever had. As such, he and he alone knows the truth of what happened. Well, and Inimicus. Danielle wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, and as such had at least left out the real identity of her saviour, but had told him the moniker the man chose to go by.

As the sun sinks below the horizon, Benni sneaks out of the Common Room and then out of the castle. He goes to the Shrieking Shack, where he and Danielle had agreed to meet.

“ **Benni** ,” Danielle signs as he enters the room, he smiles in relief that the plan had worked and she really is okay.

“ **Dannie, you are okay?** ” He asks.

She nods, “ **My parents and I have to leave and go into hiding until Inimicus’ plan moves forward. But I am safe now, and that’s what matters.** ”

Benni nods his agreement, “ **Promise me you will be okay?** ”

“ **I promise. Inimicus does not know that you know. Should his people ever reach out in an attempt to recruit you though…what will you do?** ”

“ **He saved your life, Dannie. I will join him. You know what happened with my brother. No one else cares about the lives of Werewolves as Inimicus does. If his goal will help your kind, then it aligns with mine. Besides, with Uncle Padfoot…gone…I need another ally on my side.** ”

Dannie smiles at him, “ **You will always have me on your side.** ”Benni hugs his friend. He can’t deny that it is a relief to know someone like Inimicus is out there. Someone who wants to make things better. Yes, he wants to kill Dumbledore, which Benni is not 100% on board with because, well, murder. But it is clear that he wants to help people, and Benni has seen enough war to know that there will always be sacrifices when big change is brought. He can’t shy away from that, not if he wants to ensure nothing like what Sevrin did happens again.

“ **Good luck, Dannie.** ”

“ **I will write to you when it is safe.** ” Benni nods, she smiles sadly, nodding as well before she turns and leaves.

Benni heads back into the castle and into his common room before once more taking a seat by the window. His friend is gone, but she is safe. The person putting her in danger is being targeted by a very talented man, and that very talented man cares for the people he is trying to protect more than just to further his own goal. He hopes Inimicus does contact him. If only because he seems the type who may be able to sever the bond between Benni and his brother. For now, he just has to keep his secrets from his family. Not as though they tell him much anyway, it’s only fair.

Jamie Lupin looks around with a sigh. Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes isn’t quite as busy during the day with school back, but there are a few people. Even so, she’s manning the front counter but reading the Prophet at the same time. Her eyes widen as she sees a deranged face.

**_BELLATRIX LESTRANGE is DEAD_ **

**_Notorious Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange (Née Black) was found dead yesterday evening in a park in Cokeworth. The cause of death was blunt force trauma. Did this batty witch finally meet her match? Who knows. But she did meet her maker._ **

**_Lestrange spent thirteen years in Azkaban after serving you-know-who in the first war. She was caught after torturing Auror Frank Longbottom and his wife, Alice Longbottom (Née Prewett), to insanity. It is believed that she, among other Death Eater scum, was broken out of the prison by her cousin, Sirius Black._ **

Jamie’s breath catches. It all makes sense doesn’t it? Bella Black is Bellatrix Lestrange. Jamie’s mother had been broken by a spell, she knows this, but to be _Bellatrix Lestrange_? Stupidly, all Jamie can think is ‘Does that make Rodolphus Lestrange my step-father?’ Then her eyes fill with tears because, insane or not, her Mother is dead. 

“Monty?” A hand clicks in front of her face. Jamie looks up to see Fred and looks confused.

“Monty?”

“Monty the Python.” Jamie gives him a deadpan look. “The snake jokes will never cease. Why are you all frowny?” Jamie hands the paper to him, he nods, “Worked it out then?”

“Thank you for trying to protect me.”

Fred gives her a sad smile, hand resting on her cheek. “Always Cockamamie.”

She rolls her eyes, “We were having a moment, and you’ve ruined it.”

“But do you not feel cheered up?” She smiles, nodding. “Then I am of the greatest success.” 

Her smile falls, “No wonder Dad ran off.” Fred frowns. “When we were with Grandma and Grandpa, Benni asked me if I was angry at Dad for leaving us.”

“And are you?”

“When speaking of his decisions over the last few years, his reaction to Uncle Padfoot’s death is the one thing I am not angry at him for.” She sighs, “I can’t help but think I’m missing something. I don’t understand how Mum dying snapped him _out_ of his depressive catatonia and _in_ to abandon everything and run away.”

Fred frowns, “Maybe he’s not running away, maybe he’s running to.”

“You think he’s looking for something?”

“If he is,” George says, both Fred and Jamie looking over to see him walking up to them, “His search has been put on hold.” Jamie raises an eyebrow. “Letter from Ron. Slughorn’s been fired, a girl died, and Remus is back teaching DADA.”

“We leave for a few months and this happens,” Fred comments.

“Someone died, Fred. Have a bit of respect. Who was it?” Jamie asks George.

“A first year, Danielle Smigi-something-or-other,” He replies.

“Smigin,” Jamie comments, breathless.

“Did you know her?” George asks in alarm.

“She was Benni’s best friend.”

“Oh no,” Fred comments, pulling Jamie close against him, she goes willingly.

“At least Remus is there with him now,” George reminds her.

“He doesn’t even know which house Benni was sorted into, do you think he has any idea this girl was his son’s best friend? It’s not as though Benoit will tell him.”

“Severus will,” Fred tells her, “And he’ll be there for Little Benni too.” 

Jamie sighs, “God, I hope you’re right.”

Every now and then, something will happen that will remind Albus why he took this job, and every now and then something will happen that will make him question why he did. He sits in his office now, debating which category this falls into.

A girl is dead, a girl he was supposed to be looking after. Not that he was doing a great job of it, but under the circumstances, there was only so much he could do.

Voldemort is back, the wizarding world finally believes it, and Dumbledore is no closer to stopping him than he was a year ago.

 _Well_ , he supposes, _that’s not entirely true_ , he thinks to himself as he looks down at the ring on his hand.

Severus doesn’t think it can be cured, but Dumbledore knows it can. He also knows that only a particular type of magic can do so, and it’s not one readily available. Only one person he knows can do it, well, only one with any reason to help him. Of course, he also has plenty of reason not to.

So the question is, how does he convince Remus Lupin to save his life?

He supposes he can work to earn his trust while he is working here, or perhaps do something to leave him in his debt? Or needing his help? Perhaps if he convinces one of Lupin’s children to help him, Lupin will do it for them?

Albus is not afraid of dying, but he cannot until Voldemort is dealt with. It is his responsibility, it has always been his responsibility, and he _must_ succeed. Voldemort must fall.

No matter the cost.


	7. I Got Nerve

Chapter 6 – I Got Nerve

Note: Chapter title from Hannah Montana’s song ‘I Got Nerve’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters, just my story line.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

_Last time,_

_“Presumably to plan the demise of his enemies, I suggest we do as he says, best we stay off that list after all.” Blaise tells them, Harry standing in a pipe listening hears this and smirks. Sounds like Blaise is finally falling into line. Now Harry’s plans can really begin, after all, you don’t do all this just to kill one man… Harry smirks as he continues walking away._

Now,

Nothing much happens over the next six days. Pansy gets twelve students to join up to their cause and makes a note of what will help her get more to join. Blaise devises a plan for security and Draco keeps watch over Remus who is spending most of his time in his office ‘making lesson plans’ (Read avoiding Dumbledore.) Draco also helps Blaise with a little side project the two are working on. Everyone is getting restless, except Pansy who has been extremely busy, so are looking forward to new assignments and implementing the next part of Harry’s plan.

That Tuesday they all head down at 3am and, after a few attempts at speaking in parseltongue to get through each door, they make it into the chamber where they find Harry talking to a snake that’s wrapped around his arm and over his shoulders. They wait for him to finish while being in awe of the way he seems more at ease speaking parseltongue to a snake than he ever has speaking to a human. Soon the snake slithers off of him and down some pipes, out of sight. He turns to face them.

“Okay, update me,” Harry orders and although they are all curious, they know better than to question the snake.

“We have twelve more followers however to get more I believe we need something more than, ‘we wish to kill Dumbledore’ and a faceless leader,” Pansy tells him, hoping he won’t take offence to that.

“What do you propose?” Harry asks impassively.

“Well if they, and we, knew why you were doing this, what you hoped to accomplish, we could branch out to other people, maybe even their families. I also think it would help if they saw you, like wearing a mask or something I don’t know, but just to make you more real to them,” She suggests.

He looks thoughtful for a moment, “If it’s deemed safe by Zabini for me to meet them then I’ll do it. Everything else I’ll consider,” Harry explains diplomatically. She nods her acceptance, looking grateful. “Blaise, the security plan please.”

“Yes sir, my immediate suggestions are quite simple really,” Blaise begins pulling out a piece of parchment which, at first, appears blank until Blaise taps his wand against it and words appear.

“Remus help you with that?” Harry asks, looking between the two. Remus smirks as he conjures a long table and some chairs. They all take a seat while Blaise puts the parchment on the table and begins explaining, completely sidestepping Harry’s question.

“As we have more people join and tasks are delegated, I recommend dividing them into groups and giving a task to each group. If you keep them in those groups unless they really aren’t working, then they only need to know the names of their group members and no other people working for the cause, which for the record I also think you tell them and us, but it limits the chances of everyone being caught out. Only we will know the names of everyone. It means that whenever there is a meeting, everyone will need to wear masks.” It’s now that Harry realises the Death Eater masks have more of a job than intimidation and a particularly creative follower having too much time on their hands. “Which brings me to my next point. Draco and I spent a few hours over the last six days designing and making some masks for everyone.” Apparently, Harry had left them with too much time on their hands too. “We figure that all of us should have a different mask so that they can differentiate between us, but the others should all wear the same,” He tells them all.

“All right then, I agree with all of that, but I would like to see the masks and whatever it is that you’re expecting me to wear,” Harry agrees, sounding both bemused and exasperated, Remus looks to be of the same frame of mind.

“And you can but there’s something else we need to bring up first,” Draco says, remembering the two hours yesterday that Draco and Blaise spent trying to fix this problem.

“Explain,” Harry requests.

Draco nods, “Well the problem was Uncle Remus, everyone knows his voice and if he’s found out, you can pretty much guarantee that not only will Dumbledore be told and have Uncle Remus arrested, but it will also lead back to you and likely us as well,” Draco explains.

“I assume the two of you have a plan,” He states, expecting this to be quite an interesting one from the looks on their faces.

“He has a whole outfit that is intended to be as intimidating as possible. We got the idea from Sev actually, everyone will avoid him but we can still use him. More importantly he won’t ever speak, his face will be covered so no one will be able to tell if he is looking at them and he will just sort of stand there looking scary, if he has something to say he either whispers it to Draco by leaning over and saying it in his ear or by whispering to you. The effect we are hoping for is that he simultaneously seems important and also not at all,” Blaise explains, feeling oddly proud when Harry’s, honestly scary, smirk grows with each word he says until he looks delighted by the ideas. A quick look to Remus shows him very much approving of the plan, he nods at Blaise and Draco as though telling them it’s a job well done. A swell of pride fills the both of them and they worry about how invested they are both getting in this.

“Good work, both of you. Now, can we see your creations?” Harry grants them praise, he doesn’t want to rule the way his father does. He’s not sure how he knows that he’s doing it differently, but he knows it. He is still rather pointedly not thinking about any family revelations, standing firm on his belief that it is all irrelevant and has been from the moment he entered the school and Snape had not taken the opportunity to tell him the truth, nor had Remus when he showed up, and neither had Sirius. All he does know is that he is not his Father, and he will make damned sure that remains true. He will not get so caught up in this venture that he becomes the same as the people he is trying to stop.

Blaise opens the bag that, to be honest, no one had even noticed he had. Harry suspects that he used a charm of some kind on it. He pulls out a rounded mask, it has two oval shaped red eyes that seem to protrude from the black mask, and a ridge going down the middle of it that leads to the mouth which is also protruding and red. It has bits of black that make it look like a grate and two slits for nostrils. He pulls out a black cloak to go with it.

“This one is Pansy’s,” Blaise tells them, handing it over to the excited looking girl. She immediately puts on the mask and cloak before twirling around in front of them.

“How’s it look?” She asks innocently before attempting to look menacing. Since they couldn’t see her face all it really did was square her shoulders and look down on them, it’s effective.

“Brilliant,” Harry says, Draco feels jealously stir within him as he watches Harry look Pansy up and down, logically he knows that Harry is looking at the outfit, but he still feels jealous. Just as suddenly as the feeling arrived, it disappears when Draco realises what he’s doing. What is _wrong_ with him? This is his _best_ friend and _boss_.

Next, Blaise hands Draco his outfit which consists of a Slytherin green eye mask like in depictions of Muggle superheroes except with red eyes. It also has a face mask like that of a muggle surgeon except that is also red. Blaise doesn’t know where the inspiration came from, but over the holidays Harry had described both things too him and knew very well how creepy Draco had found them. Draco puts on the cloak as well before looking up at everyone. Harry smiles appreciatively.

“Looking good Dray, very creepy,” He says with a smirk, Draco smiles widely feeling very glad that the mask will hide it and his eyes are hidden, surely, they would have seen the happiness dancing in his eyes when he finds out Harry remembers the conversation.

Blaise puts his own outfit on, the obviously standard black cloak, and a white mask that was really just a square with sunken in red triangles for eyes and a spiral for a mouth that also sank in with the circles, it changed from red to black to red to black the further down the spiral you went. In reality it was maybe three circles deep, but the effect made it look continuous.

Now it is Remus’ turn, Blaise hands him a cloak that somehow looks blacker than the others and a charcoal grey triangular mask with sunken in black circles for eyes and a hole for a mouth so that he can breathe. Over the hole there are ridges that create an effect not unlike Pansy’s with the teeth except, unlike hers, it is totally black. The mask has black slits for a nose. The entire thing, once on him, was truly terrifying, even Harry sucks in a breath.

“You can check that off the list,” Harry comments, no one can see it, but everyone knows Remus is smirking. Now the only one not wearing his disguise, Harry knows he’s next, and he can’t wait to find out what they have. He manages to keep a calm profile though.

“And here’s yours,” Blaise says, handing over the last one. Harry turns and admires the mask before putting it on along with the cloak and turning back around. “This one is my greatest achievement, if I do say so myself. I introduce to you all, Inimicus, enemy to all who stand against him,” Blaise introduces dramatically, boy was he right though.

Harry’s disguise consisted of a black velvet cloak, and the blackest mask any of them had ever seen, probably some charm Blaise put on it. It is an odd shape, sort of like a square that someone had taken a half circle out of the top and made an hourglass shape by removing a small portion of the sides too, that’s very subtle though. The eyes are red and shaped as squares but with diamond shapes cut into them that show Harry’s eyes, it makes them look black as well. His mouth has a similar teeth effect as Pansy’s except with black going through the middle in a strip. The mouth is also black. If there are any nose holes or anything, they are completely unnoticeable. The entire ensemble is a work of art, it is no wonder Blaise is so proud of it.

“Beyond this, I also suggest that we all have codenames or something to protect all of us. I thought I might leave that in the capable hands of Pansy, that is, if that’s agreeable sir?” Zabini asks, half sounding sarcastic and half serious. Ignoring the sarcasm, Harry simply nods his agreement, Pansy squeals with delight at the prospect of naming more things. No one notices Draco looking Harry up and down, seeing Inimicus in all his glory. It’s at that point Draco realizes why he had felt jealous, and knows he is utterly screwed.

“Anything else Mr. Zabini?” Harry asks but before Blaise can respond, Pansy jumps in.

“Tutamen, that should be Blaise’s name. It’s Latin, like Inimicus is. Tutamen means protection, and Blaise is acting as our security officer,” Pansy says, sounding quite pleased with herself.

“You speak Latin?” Harry asks surprised, everyone had removed their masks so the surprise on his face is clearly visible.

“What, are you the only one allowed to speak a second language? You speak Parseltongue, Remus, Dray, and Blaise speak French, Remus also speaks Finnish, and I speak Latin,” Pansy tells them all.

“You speak Finnish?” Draco asks at the same time as Remus asks, “How did you know I speak Finnish?” Meanwhile Harry looks to Draco and says, “I didn’t know you speak French.”

“Sev was muttering under his breath about ‘stupid wolf, thinks he’s so clever, see how he does without his Marauders around him, no amount of perfect Finnish will help him now,’” Pansy explains, ignoring the others.

“When was this?” Remus asks, laughing. Clearly there was a joke there that no one else got. Or he was just laughing at Severus, that’s also possible. In truth, Remus is just laughing because Severus has never managed to stop bringing up Remus being able to speak Finnish in the fifteen years it’s been since he found out. Not until he’d found out _why_. Then it strangely never came up again.

“1:32pm just before 3rd Period on the Tuesday of the Second week of school in Third Year,” Pansy recites from memory, Remus looks shocked but the others don’t. He turns to Harry for an explanation, any explanation.

“She has an eidetic memory, Moony.”

“How did I not know this?” Remus asks in surprise.

Pansy smirks, “It’s hardly helpful if you _know_ I’ll remember everything you say or do. You’ll be too careful about not slipping up!” Remus sighs.

“You know, now that I’m thinking about it, I _did_ know you speak Latin. Or at least that Snape was tutoring you,” Harry realises.

Remus rolls his eyes at the boy, “ _Professor_ Snape, Harry.”

“Okay, Tutamen it is. Now, Tutamen, anything else you would like to suggest in terms of security?” Harry asks Blaise, proud of the happy smirk on Pansy’s face and completely side-stepping Remus’ words. Draco and Pansy exchange a look about it though, silently debating when and how, and even _if_ , they should bring up what they saw yesterday when they went to see Remus. Draco shakes his head minutely.

‘ _Not now_ ’ it says, she nods.

“Well if we are to keep using the Graveyard, we need to find out if there is another entrance. See if there is some way of getting Reapers in without going through the girl’s lavatory,” Blaise tells him, everyone nods.

“Well I’ve been exploring this place a lot. We all know that Salazar Slytherin himself built this place, so it made sense to me that he’d have had a room, besides this one, in which he could do things. I found something really rather interesting,” Harry tells them, everyone listens intently, “Turns out that Salazar lived in here. There’s a study/bedroom, a potion lab, and a memorial of some sort. I thought if we put a long table in there we could use it as a meeting room. It isn’t huge, none of it is. Really just the basics but it should be enough. We can use out here to train the Reapers and in there to plan our assaults and other agendas.

I’ve been using Salazar’s study/bedroom as a study to plan Dumbledore’s demise, among other things. Anyway, my point is, it stands to reason that Salazar would have had the same thoughts that you did Blaise, another way in would be less suspicious,” Harry tells them, it was now his turn to get four pairs of shocked eyes on him.

“So, did you find anything?” Draco asks, being the first to recover.

“No Dray, I didn’t think of it until Blaise mentioned it,” He replies fondly.

“Where do Grang-err-Willows and Weasley think you’ve been when you’re doing this?” Blaise asks curiously.

“In bed or practicing Quidditch,” Harry replies with a shrug.

“Lying to your friends shouldn’t be that easy Harry,” Remus tells him.

“What, you want me to tell them the truth?” Harry asks incredulously while looking at him like he is totally and completely bonkers. 

Something in Remus just snaps.

“You want to know what happens when you lie to your friends? _When you’re that much of a coward_? TWO OF THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO YOU DIE AT THE HANDS OF SOMEONE ELSE WHO WAS ONCE DEAR TO YOU AND YOU SPEND THE NEXT TWELVE YEARS LIVING AS A RAT!” Remus yells at him rather suddenly, the others are shocked, but they notice that Harry seems to understand where it is coming from and so remain quiet. “YOUR FRIEND’S CHILDREN DISAPPEAR, ONE ONLY FOR ELEVEN YEARS AND THE OTHER FOR FIFTEEN! YOU END UP GETTING ONE OF YOUR BEST FRIENDS AND HIS WIFE THROWN IN GAOL! YOU TAKE EVERYONE AWAY FROM THE ONLY PERSON LEFT ALIVE AND FREE AND THEN YOU LEAVE THEM, YOU LEAVE THEM WITH NOTHING BUT SURVIVOR’S GUILT AND A WISH THAT THEY HAD DIED ALONG WITH THE OTHERS!” He continues yelling, “I KNOW that Harry, _I know it_! Don’t stand there acting like it’s nothing because you’ve no idea the chaos it will cause,” He finishes. Everyone looks shocked and guilty, and though Harry seems the calmest, they can all tell for once that it’s just a mask. Then his eyes darken slightly.

“One for eleven years and one for fifteen?” Remus’ anger drains from his face. “There’s something else you aren’t telling me.” Of course, Jamie had mentioned his sister. She couldn’t remember her name, but she’d given him a drawing she’d done, though she admitted the memory it’s based on is vague and so she’s unsure how accurate it is.

“There’s a lot I haven’t mentioned yet.”

“Then you’re a bloody hypocrite.” Remus can’t argue against that.

“Lord Voldemort is living in my manor,” Draco blurts out after a full minute of heavy silence.

“HE WHAT!?” Everyone yells questioningly at him.

Draco cringes, “I’m not meant to tell anyone, but Remus is right, the last thing we need right now is to not be able to trust our friends. So yes, Voldemort is living with my father and me. So are a number of his Death Eaters,” Draco continues. 

Harry seems to take a calming breath before he speaks slowly, as though making sure Draco will understand every word he says. “Dray, everything we talked about over the summer, if it had been intercepted –” Harry doesn’t get a chance to finish.

“I know, it would have ruined everything before it started. I’m sorry,” Draco tells him sincerely.

“Dray I don’t give a flying fuck about that! He could have killed you, _would_ have done so,” Harry says, starting strong and ending breathless and sounding terrified at the very thought of it.

“I’m fine Potter. Besides, my life is hardly worth your entire crusade,” Malfoy says in a defeated tone.

“You’re right Draco, it’s worth a lot more than that, I’d abandon all of this if it would save your life! And don’t call me Potter, it’s not my name,” Harry tells him, beginning to really despise being called Potter or Mr. Potter now that he knows it’s not who he is. Remus is getting flashbacks to his conversation with Severus, about Sirius being worth everything, and wondering just how alike the situations are, he inwardly smirks at the idea.

“Fine then, riddle me this, Riddle, why is my life worth it all but that kid Danielle’s wasn’t?” Draco asks frustratedly.

Harry just smirks at him, it was actually quite a disconcerting look. He looks around and sees that the others are just as confused by the change in attitude and honest to god lets out a genuine evil laugh.

“Dray, we’ve talked about this, she’s not dead. I haven’t taken her life from her either, I saved her. I’ll explain the specifics later but, once I worked out your plan, I set up your set up so that even if students were to get injured, no one would die. It just needed to _look_ like Danielle died,” Harry tells them.

“Alright I’m going to question that later because we still haven’t gotten past Blaise’s report and it’s already 3:30am,” Draco tells him.

“Right yes, Draco, how’s your task going?” Harry asks.

“Well you gave me three, one of which I can’t complete yet. Pansy is now fully in charge of recruitment though and the other thing checked out,” Draco summarizes.

“Pansy, how goes the naming?” Harry asks, knowing she has probably thought of more names by now.

“Okay so we already know that you are Inimicus and Blaise is Tutamen, now Dray is Amans, I am Addens and I don’t know about Remus yet. Maybe Metum? It means intimidate and that seems to be what the boys were going for here,” Pansy suggests, gesturing to the mask on the table in front of Remus.

“Alright, Amans, Addens and Metun it is,” Harry says, making Pansy roll her eyes at him.

“It’s Metu _m_ not metu _n_ ,” Pansy explains, unknowingly in a perfect replication of something Hermione had once said to Ron almost six years ago.

“My bad. Draco, sorry, Amans, anything else to add?” He asks, receiving a look from Pansy when he said Draco. Draco doesn’t respond though, he’s just staring out into space completely unfocused. “Dray?” Harry calls worriedly.

“Damn it, I swear to Salazar this is growing more frequent,” Blaise says as he moves to sit closer to Draco and Pansy moves to the other side. Not knowing what to do, Harry just stays there watching. He, of course, is the only one who actually knows what’s going on, but Pansy and Blaise have been dealing with the physical side of these episodes for most of their lives, so he leaves it to them. Remus watches his God-Son calmly, he’d come out of it, he always does.

A few minutes of silence, thick with worry, and Pansy can’t take it anymore, “So seeing as next week is the last week of term, I was thinking we should set a meeting for some time before Thursday,” She says to Harry.

“Sounds reasonable, means we have until then to find an alternative way into the graveyard,” He replies, realizing she needs a distraction.

“You don’t seriously plan to have 10 plus students sneaking out of bed at 3 am, do you?” Remus asks.

“I don’t see what other option we have. It’s the only time when there is a possibility of no one noticing that number of students disappearing for who knows how long,” Harry points out.

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I agree with Riddle, there aren’t any other options,” Blaise tells them. They discuss this back and forth all coming up with ideas and promptly shooting them down for about ten minutes, then Remus gets up, pacing. Harry’s eyes light up.

“Oh, I’ve heard about this, Sirius used to call it his tactical mode, said it used to drive everyone nuts. Got everyone into and out of a lot of trouble back in the day though.”

“How have I never heard of this?” Blaise asks, watching Remus in intrigue as he ignores the others and seems solely focused on this one problem.

“I don’t know, Sirius said he can’t do it anymore, something about the first war, everyone got real quiet after that so I doubted they’d say anything more,” Harry explains. They watch for a few moments before Remus stops pacing, looking back to them.

“Don’t have the meeting.” The three look confused.

“What?”

“The most frightening things about Voldemort aren’t anything to do with what he looks like. He has a name people daren’t speak, a symbol they live in fear of seeing, and followers that all know to obey or die. Don’t show them your face, that’s not how to prove your real. Announce yourself, make them hear you, make them see and acknowledge you. Make your move. Only then will you gain respect and followers.”

Harry thinks this over, then nods, “I like this tactical mode of yours.”

Remus smirks, “So do I,” He replies before they hear a bang.

They all look over to see Draco collapsed on the floor beside his chair.

“Dray!” All four of them yell as they rush over.

“He’s just passed out, this happens on occasion, luckily it means he’ll be coming out of it soon,” Blaise explains once he has checked that Draco is okay.

“So that other child…?” Harry asks.

Remus sighs, “Your younger sister. Well, half-sister technically speaking, but Sirius adopted her as well when he married your mother.” 

Harry doesn’t bother feigning surprise.

“You said you’d found her?” Remus nods. “She’s safe?” He nods again. Harry doesn’t question further. Much like with his parents, he refuses to truly care. It isn’t relevant. Not anymore.

They all sit in silence for five minutes before Draco starts stirring. It takes them a minute for someone to realize his eyes are open again.

“Hey Dray, come on, come back to us. No rush honey just take your time. We are here, you are safe, come back to us, that’s the way,” Pansy starts saying and continues to say comforting words as Draco starts blinking. After a while, Harry and Blaise help him sit up and lean against the table leg. He hasn’t yet made any indication that he can hear them, but he’s been looking Harry in the eye for about thirty seconds.

“Dray, you remember the first letter you ever sent me? The first thing you said was that you were sorry about Sirius. You told me that you knew it probably wouldn’t mean anything nor would I care what you have to say, but I just want you to know that I did, and that it meant a lot,” Harry tells him, trying to get a response. Draco smiles at him though he still looks extremely spaced out.

“Harry,” Draco says as he holds his hand out to Harry.

“Yeah Dray, it’s me,” Harry responds while grabbing the outstretched hand.

“Still my nemesis?” Draco asks airily.

“Always.”

They all stay there for almost an hour as Draco recovers before everyone heads back to their respective dorm rooms/teacher’s quarters.

It’s past five in the morning when Harry gets back to his dorm, he debates whether or not it’s even worth going to sleep when he remembers how little he has slept lately and decides that yes, yes it is worth it.

He falls asleep almost as soon as his head hits the pillow.

He’s back in the dark place, nothing but some other presence that he can feel but cannot see. It’s pressing in on him, forcing him from his mind and into another. He sees the man’s whole life flash before his eyes, his every thought and feeling. His girlfriend, his child, the child he never gets to raise, the best friend he betrays and loses, the girlfriend who loses him. He sees everything and then nothing. He’s in the dark space again, he can feel the other presence only this time he just knows that, should he turn around, he will see him. But he doesn’t, he doesn’t want to.

“Maybe some day, but not today, god please not today. Goodbye, Father,” Harry says before he feels himself be shaken awake. He reacts and pulls his wand onto whoever is shaking him and mutters ‘everte statum’. As soon as he tries to remember what he had been dreaming, he can’t.

“Bloody hell, Harry!” Ron yells after he crashes into his bed. 

Harry sits up and looks at his best friend. “I am so sorry Ron, god I need to stop doing that. If it makes you feel better, I did the exact same thing to Remus a week ago,” Harry tells him.

“It does not make me feel better! Come on, we’re late and I don’t want to miss the bacon,” Ron tells him shortly as he gets up.

“Ron you’re bleeding,” Harry tells him just as Hermione rushes into the room, shuts the door, casts a locking and silencing charm before rushing over and shutting and locking the window, only then moving to stand in front of the boys.

“Ron, what happened to you?” She asks worried.

“I am still getting used to you as a blonde, and Harry happened,” Ron replies, she blushes before looking at Harry in confusion, he looks down sheepishly.

“Whatever, we have more important things to discuss,” Hermione tells them both as she sits down cross-legged on the ground between their beds, they both move to sit down in front of her.

“What’s going on?” Harry asks once Hermione has fixed Ron’s nose. 

She looks extremely nervous, then takes a deep breath and settles herself. “I think something needs to be done about Dumbledore.”


	8. Someday

Chapter 7 – Someday

Note: Chapter Title from Nickelback’s song ‘Someday’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

_Last time,_

_“I think something needs to be done about Dumbledore.”_

Now,

“You what?” Ron and Harry ask simultaneously.

“Look, Professor Snape and I were talking yesterday about my grades for this term, and one thing led to another and he said something, something about power having corrupted even the greatest wizards. I think he was talking about Dumbledore,” Hermione explains, both boys look rather disbelieving. Sure, Harry wants him gone, but that seems like a stretch for Hermione.

“Hermione, he was probably talking about you-know-who or something. Where the hell did you even get Dumbledore from? Did he say it?” Ron asks completely bewildered.

“No, he didn’t, but I _swear_ , he was hinting at Dumbledore being corrupt! Harry, I know you and he are really close and you don’t want to believe this but, I need you to listen to me. I mean just think about it, everything that’s happened to you since you got to this school should never have happened. Snape realised something was wrong with Quirrel, but Dumbledore didn’t? Dumbledore couldn’t tell that Lockhart was a fake? I realise he couldn’t have found the Chamber of Secrets because he isn’t a parseltongue, but why would he not have sent students home when he realized the school wasn’t safe for them? Why wait so long? He literally told us to go back in time and change things during third year, something you are explicitly _not_ meant to do and something he could have done himself. Sirius _died_ and he knew where we were going and what was happening, but he doesn’t show up until you and Voldemort are alone?” Hermione lists off.

“What are you saying Hermione, that Dumbledore is working for you-know-who?” Ron asks struggling to wrap his head around this.

“He’s not!” Harry says vehemently. His father, would never work with Dumbledore.

“Harry, I know you don’t want to believe that Dumbledore would do it but…” Hermione starts but Harry cuts her off.

“Hermione it’s not that. I mean I also don’t believe that but, Voldemort would never work with Dumbledore. Trust me on that. But that doesn’t mean that everything that has happened doesn’t cast suspicion on Dumbledore, I just will not believe that those two are working together,” Harry replies diplomatically and far too calmly for the other two’s liking.

“Harry, I just said that, among a lot of other things, Dumbledore may have let Sirius, your Dad, die, and you’re just pressing through it?” Hermione asks incredulously.

“Of course I’m not just pressing through it! But I’ve already trashed his office about it and it didn’t help. Sirius won’t come back because I got angry, but what Dumbledore may or may not be doing could get someone else killed, possibly a lot of someones. We need to find out for sure what’s going on,” Harry tells her, and he is telling the truth. For all the planning and research he has done into Grindelwald, His father, and himself, along with Dumbledore’s own history, he can’t find a reason for him to be doing any of it, and he _needs_ a reason.

“Okay, so over the holidays I’ll look into him,” Hermione compromises.

“You live in the muggle world, Hermione, how are you going to look up a wizard?” Ron asks her.

“I’ll go to Diagon Alley and buy some books,” She tells them.

“You’re going to bring books from the wizarding world to the Muggle world? That’s very reckless, Hermione, they could be found,” Harry tells her seriously.

“Harry, it’s hardly the first time I’ve done this, and besides what’s the big deal? People aren’t going to find out about wizards because of a few books,” She replies offhandedly.

Harry looks at her like she’s an idiot, “You don’t know that!” Harry says loudly.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stay here over the holidays and do some research in the library,” Hermione suggests in a placating manner.

“Thank you. Now come on, before we miss breakfast all together,” Harry directs after checking the time, the three then hurry down to the Great Hall.

They’d been there for about five minutes when the mail comes in and a letter is dropped in front of Harry. On the front is one word, one name, and it’s enough to make him panic as he thinks of the only other place he’s ever encountered the name. His nightmares.

_Harrison_

“Oh my god, your name is Harrison?” Ron asks mockingly.

Harry groans, “No! My name is Harry,” Harry replies in a whine, he refuses to be called a name given to him by people who lied/abandoned him. He is Harry, he has always been Harry, he will always be Harry.

“It’s alright, Harry, there’s nothing wrong with the name Harrison, Ron’s just an idiot,” Hermione replies making Harry drop his head momentarily before he opens the letter.

Harry rolls his eyes at them and reads the note in his head.

_Harrison,_

_It’s been brought to my attention that you now know of your true lineage. I was planning on telling you when it would be an opportune time for me, but I’ve decided to reach out to you now._

_I realise I’ve no right to ask this of you given that I haven’t been there your entire life, but if you’ll give me a chance to explain, I think you will understand._

_Hedwig knows the way if you choose to reply._

_Your father,_

_Lord Voldemort_

Harry’s first thought is rather ridiculous, but he can’t help wondering how people keep getting a hold of his owl. His second thought is far more serious, what to do about Voldemort. His third, however, is the most important, how did his father know that he knew?

“Harry?” Ginny asks worriedly from her place beside him.

Harry gets out some parchment and a quill before writing a reply, making sure no one can see what he writes. He tries to act as calmly as he can, but he can feel Draco’s eyes on him.

_Father,_

_In person or by letter?_

_How did you get a hold of Hedwig?_

_Who told you that I knew?_

_Also, my name is_ not _Harrison, it’s Harry._

_Harry_

He gave the letter to Hedwig who had waited patiently, after it was sent off, he went back to eating and ignored his friends’ questioning looks.

He spends the rest of the day trying to work out who had told his father. Only four people aside from him know.

Pansy, Blaise, Remus, and Draco. Remus had mentioned that he regretted not following Tom when he went off the rails, this could have been him attempting to make up for it. Blaise had been working against Harry to a degree the whole time and though he seemed to be getting better, that may be a ruse of some kind. Pansy agreed far too readily when first approached, she should have been more suspicious, so either she really trusted Draco that much, or she’s lying. Draco lives with Voldemort and his father works very closely with him, he had the most direct opportunity. Obviously, it wasn’t Draco, Draco is his biggest supporter and his best friend. He wouldn’t betray him. Pansy and Blaise could both easily be pinned for Danielle’s ‘murder’ so one would think they wouldn’t risk crossing him. He didn’t really believe that Remus would betray him either, he thinks of Harry as his cub and especially since Sirius died, he’s seen it as his responsibility to look after Harry. That being said, he did disappear for a solid month…

That left Harry feeling as though either Pansy or Blaise ratted him out, his greatest suspicion lay on Blaise. He wouldn’t accuse him with anything until he was sure, no use driving Blaise further away by showing so blatantly that he wasn’t trusted. Only…they know his Father is Tom Riddle, but they don’t know Tom Riddle is Voldemort, which leaves only one possibility.

For some reason, Remus is talking to Lord Voldemort.

That night at dinner, another letter arrives for Harry. Mail doesn’t often arrive at dinner, so it is odd and makes Harry quite sure of who had sent it. As expected, he sees his name written elegantly on the top, stupid git calling him Harrison again.

_Harrison_

_Your name is Harrison, I will not call you anything but._

_I’ll send a Death Eater to get you from the train station, they’ll look like Vernon Dursley so as not to arouse suspicion, they will bring you to me._

_I assume that the Dursley’s believe you’ll be staying at Hogwarts over the holidays as per usual._

_The Dark Lord,_

_Voldemort_

Harry scoffs at pretty well the entire letter. He quickly writes a reply.

_Father_

_In that case, perhaps you should be signing your letters as Tom._

_I’ll go with your lapdog, but I do expect an answer to my questions upon my arrival or I shall promptly leave._

_Harry_

He sends it off with Hedwig once again and immediately starts freaking out internally. He just got extremely sassy with the most powerful Dark Lord of all time, after agreeing to go with one of his Death Eaters to visit him in his stronghold. He gave him an ultimatum for Merlin’s sake! Knowing that there is nothing to be done about it, he pushes the matter out of his mind and joins in the discussion happening around him as normally as he can manage.

The next morning at breakfast he received two letters. One was obviously Pansy’s hand writing and the other was his Father’s. Both said Harry on the front causing Harry to have the smuggest grin on his face that anyone had ever seen. He knew he couldn’t read Pansy’s in public, so he put it in his pocket and opened his father’s letter.

_Harry,_

_You win that round, but this matter is not closed._

_I will give you your answers if, upon meeting me, you explain how it is you came to know my real name. I cannot imagine that Remy would have mentioned it._

_In fact, why don’t we just agree that a lot of explanations will be had on both of our parts._

_I shall see you in three days’ time._

_Lord Voldemort_

Harry smirked down at the page, he was almost looking forward to this. If only so that he can tell his Father to go fuck himself, though his mentioning of Remus has Harry questioning if he had told his Father what he knew. Also… _Remy?_ That’s going to have to be mentioned at some point. He left to go to the bathroom and once there opened the letter from Pansy.

_Inimicus_

_I may have found an alternative entrance, fancy a late night outing?_

_I’ll meet you outside your place at the usual time._

_Your faithful follower,_

_Addens_

Harry smirked at the letter and was pleasantly surprised to see the lack of information on the letter, yet it told it all.

That night, Harry snuck out of his dorm and out the door. There was no one outside the common room and for a moment, Harry considered that he may have interpreted the letter wrong, then he sensed his cloak nearby and felt a hand on his shoulder. Having been expecting someone, he managed not to everte statum her. She put her finger to her lips before putting the cloak around him as well. Once they had walked to a corridor with a smaller amount of paintings, she speaks to him.

“Glad you understood my message,” She whispers quietly.

“It was well written, Pans, I was impressed,” He tells her, not even noticing the nickname, she smiles at it though. “So where is this entrance?” He asks her.

“Well that’s the problem, I visited the graveyard during my free period two days ago and found what I thought may be a reference to another entrance. I’ve tried to find it since, but I think I may need a Parselmouth to help. I may have found it but there’s weird writing around it that I think may be the language,” Pansy tells him.

“Great so, where is it?” Harry asks her again.

“Sev’s potion classroom,” She replies. 

He sighs in frustration, “Any chance he sleeps like a normal person?” Harry asks as they begin nearing the classroom.

“Not a single chance in hell, he’s not human, he literally doesn’t sleep at all,” She replies, they look into the classroom making sure to breathe quietly and they see Snape working at his desk. They exchange a look and Harry gestures with his head that they should move back down the hall.

“Maybe if we are quiet we can sneak over to it and you can just see what it says?” Pansy suggests.

“Have you lost your mind? No way he doesn’t catch us! I would’ve just done it over the holidays but for once in six years I’m not staying at school,” Harry says frustratedly. Of course, this is all happening at once! Why does this always happen to him?

“All right, well, I can stay behind. I would’ve had to stay with my Aunt anyway because my parents are doing a job for the Dark Lord and Remus can’t look after us anymore,” Pansy tells him, he nods at her. He feels it a testimony to her trust in him and dedication to the cause that she told him point blank what her parents are doing and for whom.

“Okay good. Here’s what we will do, during the holidays, first chance you get, copy down the writing as exactly as possible and send it to D… uh… Amans. He can get it to me,” Harry suggests, she nods, “All right, in that case, this is the last time we meet until next term unless something drastic happens in the next two days, which is entirely possible given my luck. But listen, see if Blaise can stay behind over the holidays too. These places can be dangerous and should you be able to enter, I don’t want you going in alone, especially since Metum won’t be here. Turns out they’ve found another person to fill his current role that can do it permanently. Metum says he’ll stay in Hogsmeade though, we’ll work out a plan so that he can still get to the graveyard later,” Harry tells her.

“Alright I’ll ask him. I’ll also see if I can get anyone else staying here to join our cause,” She says determinedly.

“Be careful, Hermione is staying,” He warns. She drops him off back at his common room before going back to her own. She finds Draco and Blaise waiting for her in the common room.

“And where have you been?” Blaise asks, annoyed.

“With Inimicus, Blaise he wants to know if you can stay here with me over break to help me with a new task,” Pansy explains, apparently, neither were expecting that answer.

“Yes, I suppose I can, we’d better let Sev know first thing tomorrow though,” Blaise answers, pushing his surprise to the side, as he finds himself doing frequently of late.

“So, what were you and he doing? Or is this one of those things we shouldn’t question?” Draco asks dryly, the other two chuckle at it though. Pansy then gives them a rundown of what happened and soon enough they all go to bed.

Nothing much happens over the next two days except Dumbledore giving a speech about Remus being replaced and how they appreciate him stepping in when he did. Soon enough they are all on the train on their way home.

Harry and Ron talk about how happy they are that the term appeared to be their first ever quiet one. Or rather Ron does, Harry reminds him about Hermione’s suspicions about Dumbledore. Ron doesn’t believe anything would pan out but he does seem to be on the same wavelength as the other two, stranger things have happened. If only he knew.

Harry sees ‘Vernon’ as soon as he steps off the train, he says goodbye to Ron and goes immediately over to him while making a mental note to remind his Father that Vernon Dursley would sooner jump in front of a train than enter the platform, and he’s not exaggerating.

“Best get going, hadn’t we,” A female voice says.

“Yes, we best,” Harry replies distrustfully. It’s also really weird to hear such a feminine voice coming out of someone that looks just like his Uncle. They go out to the muggle area as is expected of Harry, they go to a secluded area wherein the Death Eater apparates them back to what he can only assume is Malfoy Manor. Just then the boy himself appears alongside his Father.

“What are you doing here, _Potter_?” Draco spits the moment he sees Harry, they can’t let anyone catch on to the friendship between the two.

“I was invited,” Harry replies smugly.

“Oh, and who invited _you_?” Draco replies sarcastically.

“I did. Now, Draco, is that anyway to treat a guest?” The Dark Lord himself asks as he walks up from behind the Malfoys, the effect is instantaneous.

“No, sir. Sorry, sir,” Draco says with a bowed head, Harry questions how likely it is that all three of his current followers so readily turn against a man they clearly fear. He would have to keep an eye on them and find a way to ensure their loyalty to him and not his Father. Much as he trusts Draco, he likes to be sure. Too much is riding on the success of this venture.

“Now, Harrison, welcome, it is good to see you,” Voldemort says turning his attention to his son.

“It’s Harry,” Harry replies shortly.

Voldemort regards him with fond amusement, “I don’t see why you can’t simply be called by the name your Mother gave you,” He replies as he gestures for Harry to start walking with him.

“Because, Father, neither you nor Mother were around to call me by it and I’ve since developed an attachment to the name I was raised with,” Harry explains coolly as they walk. As soon as the words leave his mouth, he feels everyone around them go entirely still as they attempt to discern whether or not they heard him correctly.

“Yes, well, why don’t we talk in the study?” Voldemort replies, ignoring everyone else.

“I suppose; however, I am expecting you to hold up your end of our deal,” Harry tells him, referring to the questions he’s demanded answers to.

“Of course, my boy, I always honour my agreements,” He assures his son, Harry wonders how true that statement is. They finish their trek to the study and Voldemort gestures for Harry to have a seat. Once they both sit down, Voldemort turns to his son, “I asked my owl to go and collect yours to bring to me. I then sent your owl off with the letter to you so she knew the way back,” He tells his Son, not beating around the bush.

“Was Hedwig injured?” Harry asks, he hadn’t noticed any wounds but he didn’t think to properly check for any.

“No, she came quite willingly,” His father replies. 

Harry makes a mental note to talk to Hedwig, get a read for the situation from her himself. “I know your name because four years ago your diary came to be in my possession. One thing led to another and I ended up in the Chamber of Secrets where some remnant of yourself was controlling a Basilisk. I killed it and destroyed the part of you in the diary,” Harry tells him semi-truthfully.

“How in Merlin’s name did you manage that? You were twelve! Grown wizards couldn’t take down a Basilisk on their own,” Voldemort questions, he couldn’t believe that a part of himself had endangered his son’s life, yet he himself had done it personally on numerous occasions, it still filled him with rage though.

“Well it wasn’t easy, and I wasn’t alone. Fawkes helped me,” Harry replies indignantly. At his Father’s questioning glance he elaborates, “Fawkes is a phoenix.” The man just shakes his head in bewilderment and exasperation, deciding to sidestep the issue.

“You said you destroyed the diary and the version of me inside it?” Voldemort asks worriedly, that was one of his horcruxes!

“Yes, why? Was it important?” Harry asks wanting more information about it.

“I suppose if it was, I would have noticed it gone when it happened,” He replies with a sort of resigned air.

“Who told you that I knew?” Harry asks, remembering the more important question.

“I can’t answer that Harry, I told them I wouldn’t tell anyone and as I said, I honour my agreements,” Voldemort tells him sorrowfully. Harry nods, that made sense and he wasn’t going to ask his Father to break a promise. He will find out another way.

“Fine,” Harry replies. They both sit in an uncomfortable silence for what felt like hours but was probably only a minute or two. “Look I got the answers I came here to get, there’s nothing more I want from you,” Harry tells him harshly as he stands up.

“Harry, I’d never admit this to anyone else, but I’ve missed you, I’ve missed my little boy so much. I nearly killed you sixteen years ago, could killed the love of my life as well had she been home. My actions that day cost me so much. I lost you entirely, my love was locked away in a muggle prison, my best friend sent to Azkaban. And two of the people I considered family died. Merlin, I lost my son! I searched for you for eleven years, I wanted to take you home. That night with the Philosopher’s stone, it didn’t even occur to me who you were until I was blasted from Quirrell’s body. I know Son, I know you don’t want anything from me, but you deserve so much and I want something from you. I want my son, so please, give me a chance,” Voldemort says, hardly able to believe he is admitting it all and saying it aloud, exposing such a weakness to an enemy. But this isn’t his enemy, this is his son, and some part of him still recognises the importance of that. 

Harry is silent for several moments, debating what to say.

“You tried to kill me. You literally left me scarred for life. You left me to a life of misery. I finally found a way out only to have you try to kill me again, and again, then a break for a year, and then again. Why should I believe you won’t try it again this year? Why would you want this anyway? You left me crying in my crib. You abandoned me. Why would I want this?” Harry asks, trying to hold back tears and hating the way his voice cracks, filled so much with pain and regret, because he wants so much for it all to be true. He’s tried so hard not to care, but as it turns out, shouting it in his head doesn’t make it true. Because it is relevant, and it does matter.

“I didn’t try to kill you in Godric’s Hollow, Harrison, I was trying to get you back. They were hiding you from me, I just wanted my son. You weren’t the target of that curse, your Aunt was. She jumped out of the way and it hit you, I thought for sure I had just killed you, but it didn’t work. I’ve never been so thankful for a failure as I was in that moment. I died that night, and though I came back, there have been many times I’ve wished I didn’t,” Voldemort says, telling his side of the story for the first time. Harry processes this for a moment, unsurprised that he’d gotten a completely different tale from Dumbledore but thus far unsure which is the truth. Assuming either even were. So supposing his father didn’t try to kill him in Godric’s Hollow or in first year and it wasn’t this version of him in second year, but what about fourth year?

“What about two years ago? When you had Wormtail kill Cedric? You were going to kill me too,” Harry points out, now sounding completely calm as he buries the feelings from that night far, far down.

“Yes, that was regrettable, I don’t know if you noticed but I wasn’t really with it that night. For a minute there, I was entirely the wizard they all believe me to be,” Voldemort says, the last part sounding soft, Harry wonders if he meant to say it at all. Something about it, the way he said it, Harry knows that more is going on than he knows, maybe more than anyone does.

“Then who are you really?” Harry asks hesitantly. 

Voldemort sits up straighter immediately and his demeaner becomes more closed off than before, “I am The Dark Lord,” He replies, voice full of promises and power.

Harry nods sadly, “Then I guess we are done here,” He says regretfully, “You know I don’t care if you are Lord Voldemort, and I could get over the various attempts at murder. But I can’t be here with you when I don’t know who you are beneath that,” He says before turning and walking towards the door.

“I’m your Father,” Harry hears from behind him just as he grabs the handle, Harry turns back to look at the man. “You wanted to know who I am beneath The Dark Lord, well I am your father. All I ever wanted in life was to be with your mother and you. We’d have a house in the countryside because your mother hates crowded cities, you’d have a pet giraffe that Siri gave you because you loved them, Del and I would constantly berate him for it. We’d claim not to know what to do with it but your other godfather would step in and tell us everything we need, direct us to whoever has the stuff to take care of a bloody giraffe because he knows it makes you laugh.” He laughs bitterly shaking his head, “I’ve always been a dreamer, Harry, and for the longest time, that’s been my only dream.”

“I think we are well past that stage. Sirius is dead, Giraffes creep me out, and my Mother is apparently in prison somewhere which I did not know until today.”

“I didn’t mean for him to die,” Voldemort replies, not being able to help but be a little hurt when Harry so readily dismissed the life he had always wanted for them. 

Harry nods at him. He’d known that. “I want to get to know you,” Harry says suddenly after moments of silence.

“Really? What changed your mind?” His father asks bewildered, hadn’t he just been ready to turn his back on him?

“I’m a dreamer too,” Harry replies.

The two share a smile as Harry and his father sit back down and start talking, not only about everything that’s happened but also stories, stories of his mother and Sirius. Of his Uncle Moony and the others, though not Lily, he never mentioned Lily. That night, while he lay in the bed he was given in the manor, Harry realises that although he had never been here before and it was filled with people who want him dead, he felt at home, and never safer.


	9. Going To Hell

Chapter 8 – Going To Hell

Note: Chapter Title from The Pretty Reckless’ song ‘Going To Hell’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

_Last time,_

_That night while he lay in the bed he was given in the manor, Harry realized that although he had never been here before and it was filled with people who want him dead, he felt at home and never safer._

Now,

The next morning a house elf comes to collect him and take him to breakfast. It’s an awkward affair having Draco, Lucius, Voldemort, and Harry at a table drinking tea and eating eggs on toast. Of course Voldemort either doesn’t notice or completely ignores it because he seems perfectly at ease while Lucius is eating and throwing looks to Harry and his Father. Harry and Draco are both sat wondering what they should be doing, neither of them have actually eaten anything, though both had gone to before stopping again.

“Come on Harry eat up, big day ahead,” Voldemort says to him after they’d all been sitting there for ten minutes.

“Yes Father,” Harry replies as he cuts into his toast and puts a piece in his mouth. Satisfied, Voldemort looks back to his own plate. Harry eating appears to have snapped Draco out of it because he begins eating as well. “Father, what are we doing today?” Harry asks curiously. Lucius freezes, worried about how his Lord will react to being questioned, usually if he wanted you to know something he’d tell you.

“Today, you and Draco are going to stop by the Dursley’s so that you can pick up some clothes and anything you’d like for over the holidays. Then you, Lucius, Draco, and I are going to go pick up some new things for both of you boys,” Voldemort answers calmly, Lucius relaxes however Draco and Harry do not.

“What?!” They both say indignantly. Draco is silenced with a glare from his father, Harry presses on by glaring back at his.

“Now Harrison, I understand that you do not get along, however the two of you are currently living in the same house, I would suggest you’d try to move past it,” His father tells him.

“It’s a pretty big house,” Harry replies, needing it to seem like he’d rather die than spend time with Draco.

“Harrison, you are going with Draco, you may be my son but you are not above my wrath,” Voldemort tells his son as he begins to lose patience with the teen.

“Oh I’m well aware of that Father, several attempts at murder and that time you crucio’d me twice come to mind,” Harry points out testily.

“Good, then perhaps when I tell you to do something you’ll behave and do it,” Voldemort replies hotly. Harry shuts up and glares down at his plate. “Now Harry, I’m not being unreasonable. You don’t know how to get back and the only other person who could accompany you is Wanda Parkinson, somehow I don’t think you’ll want to take her with you through Muggle London,” He explains.

Harry rolls his eyes, “Fine, I’ll do it. And by the way I’ve never even been to London, I’ve certainly never lived there,” He tells him before eating his eggs aggressively, Voldemort also goes back to eating. Draco, and Lucius, both of whom had sat completely still during the argument, look at each other wondering when this had become their lives before they too begin eating again. 

After breakfast, Draco and Harry walk out of the mansion once their respective Fathers stopped giving them various instructions. As soon as they are outside, Draco grabs Harry’s shoulder and they disappear. They reappear in the same tunnel that dementors had nearly killed Harry and his cousin in a year earlier. Harry quickly realizes that Lucius must have given Draco a portkey.

“Harry, what the hell is going on?! I thought your father was Tom Riddle or whoever, not Lord Fucking Voldemort!” Draco asks loudly.

“Where did you even learn a muggle cussing word?” Harry asks beyond confused by that.

“From Uncle Re, you giant idiot!” Draco replies, it was nice actually. In school they never get the chance to speak freely. Either they are the Saviour and the Prince of Slytherin, or they are Amans and Inimicus.

“Wow, love you too, Dray,” Harry replies sarcastically, they both look at each other annoyed for a minute before Draco smiles, Harry snickers, and then they both outright laugh.

“It’s good to see you my friend,” Draco tells him, feeling like it’s the first time he’s seen him as his friend in ages. Draco pulls him into a hug that Harry happily returns.

“Good to see you too, Dray,” Harry says as he hugs him. Draco feels those unwanted feelings surfacing again, what he doesn’t know is that Harry is just beginning to realize his own. “Voldemort is Tom Riddle.”

“Yeah I got that now. Thanks,” Draco drawls sarcastically.

“Listen, there’s a squib at the end of privet drive that Dumbledore has keeping an eye on me. If she sees you she’ll tell Dumbledore,” Harry says after being in the tunnel has reminded him of that fact.

“Do you have your cloak?”

“No, I left it with Pansy and Blaise.”

“That’s helpful,” Draco comments, Harry glares at him, then Draco realizes something, “What does it matter if Dumbledore knows I was with you?”

“Are you kidding?! If he finds out we are friends then-then…huh. I guess it doesn’t,” Harry replies stupidly.

“Giant Idiot,” Draco mutters smiling, they both laugh before Harry leads Draco back to the Dursley’s.

“They aren’t going to react well to you being here and they aren’t expecting me so, be warned,” Harry tells him. He opens the door and walks in, closely followed by Draco. They make it a full five steps inside the door and have just closed it when Petunia comes out from the kitchen.

“Dudders, we took care of the school don’t worry, they aren’t pressing charges- oh, it’s you,” Petunia says, sneering at the last part.

“Hi Aunt Petunia, what did Dudley do?” Harry asks, not able to help his curiosity.

“You mind your manners boy,” Vernon says coming down the stairs, “Who is that? Is he one of those types? What’s he doing here?! Well? Answer me boy!” Vernon yells at him.

“No, he’s not! He’s a Muggle,” Harry lies, faking a panicked urgency in his voice.

“What’s a muggle?” Draco asks, faking confusion.

“Don’t worry about it. Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, this is Drake. He’s my perfectly normal friend who’s house I’m staying at over break. I’ve just come to get some stuff,” Harry explains.

“Oh you have, have you?” Petunia sneers at him, she rarely has any other face when looking at him.

“Yes! I have!” Harry says, looking quickly to Draco to make sure everything is okay.

“Mr. Dursley, Mrs. Dursley. What Harry means to say is that with your permission, he would like to be able to stay with me and my Father at our mansion over the school break. He obviously needs some of his stuff, we did not think you would mind,” Draco says with all the elegance and grace a pureblood heir should have, he practically screamed aristocrat.

“Oh of course we don’t dear, we just hadn’t heard anything of this. I apologize for our behaviour,” Petunia immediately says, she’d snapped to attention as soon as the word mansion left Draco’s mouth, “Who, may I ask, are you? And your father. And where do you live?” She asks.

“My name is Drake Malfoy, I live with my father, Lord Lucius Malfoy, in London,” Draco replies, clearly he had done this before. Harry starts questioning how much time the Malfoy’s spent in the muggle world and why. Then of course, he remembers Remus being his God-Father and thinks that perhaps it makes perfect sense. For some reason, his Aunt looks at Draco in amusement before casting a sideways glance to her husband and making sure he hasn’t noticed, then she turns back with a far calmer face.

Petunia leads Draco into the loungeroom and asks him how he and Harry met. He tells her that they had hit Harry with their town car on the way to the opera during the summer. They had made sure Harry was all right and the two of them had kept in touch.

Meanwhile Vernon had Harry against the wall.

“You may think you have, but you have not gotten away with this. You have to come back sometime, even if it isn’t til the end of the school year, and we’ll have you then,” He promises before joining Petunia. Harry runs upstairs and grabs one of the only things he leaves here during school, the picture of his parents. He leaves it here because the school keeps being attacked and he doesn’t want it being broken. Of course he now knows that they aren’t his parents and are in fact his Aunt and Uncle, the same Aunt who had dived out of the way of a curse and nearly got him killed. But for so many years he had thought otherwise, had loved them, had seen them as a beacon of light and hope and love. He can’t just leave it behind. He then heads down into the cupboard under the stairs and grabs the box housing his old school books, he wouldn’t have been able to lift it but Hermione had cast a spell on it that made it lighter.

“Dray, ready to go?” Harry asks leaning against the doorway to the living room.

“Yes of course. Thank you both for your hospitality, it was a pleasure to meet you sir, and thank you for the recipes ma’am,” Draco says as he stands up.

“Of course dear, you’re welcome here any time. We’d love to meet your father one day,” Petunia tells him as Vernon and he shake hands.

“I’m sure he’d love that too,” Draco says, _if only to kill you_ , he adds in his head.

Once outside and down the street a bit Draco wipes his hand down his shirt. “Muggle germs,” He says disgustedly. Harry rolls his eyes fondly, though he can’t help but be shaken up still. He always gets like this when he is here, takes him a good week and a half at Hogwarts to get over it each year.

“Harry, might I have a quick word with you before you go?” Petunia calls, walking out of the door and shutting it behind her.

Harry and Draco walk back over to her, “Yes, Aunt Petunia?”

Petunia takes a moment, gathering herself before she speaks, “Many years ago, I was at a park near the house I grew up in with my friends.” Harry frowns, having no idea what’s happening. “My sister came along with a group of people I knew to be witches and wizards, naturally I wasn’t happy, after all they were all freaks,” She explains, Draco opens his mouth but she holds a hand up to quiet him. “I confronted Lily, demanded to know what she was doing bringing them there. That day I met a man named Sirius Black, who, much like Dra _co_ here tried to do,” She continues, Draco and Harry looking at each other in shock at her knowing his name, “Used his status and wealth to win me over. He was trying to make things better for my sister. Eventually I saw past that, and in doing so I made many friends among your kind. That’s how I know Remy.” She pauses, clearing her throat and fighting back her emotions. Suddenly their interactions at the end of the previous school year make far more sense to Harry. “I watched my friends, my _family_ fight in a horrid war, and I watched them lose. I watched them die. At first, when you started showing the signs Lily had, I thought perhaps if it wasn’t encouraged, maybe it would stop. The wizarding world isn’t safe, that much became clear to me when I was a child, but it wasn’t until after Lily died that I realized just how bad things could be. I-I saw Remus, after the war, that cemented in my head that I was doing the right thing. Somehow, things devolved, they changed from my trying to protect you from your magic, to me punishing you for it, just like I had done my sister. You aren’t coming back here, are you?”

Harry looks nervous, Draco answers for him.

“No, he isn’t.”

Petunia nods, “Good. I can’t undo what I’ve done to you Harry, the disgrace I’ve brought on my group’s memory, but I am sorry. And I hope more than anything you’ve found a place with people who will do as we should have done, with people who will love you. People who won’t blame you for their sister’s death.”

“Did you know? About-about who I really am?”

Petunia sighs, “I was hoping that wasn’t the reason you’re staying with Lucius,” Petunia mutters, then looks at Harry serious, “Harry, I don’t know who you really are. At your age, I doubt you do either. What I do know, is that who you are is not decided by who your parents are, nor who raised you, or what you were raised to be. You are whoever you wish to be. Your Dad taught me that. Good Luck, Bambi,” She tells him, then she walks back into her house.

“Well that was unexpected,” Draco states after a few moments.

Harry frowns after his Aunt, rubbing at his upper arm nervously, “Let’s get out of here,” He requests.

Draco senses his unease and reaches out and grabs Harry’s hand, “Are you alright, Har?” He asks worried. 

“Yeah, I just don’t like it here,” He replies, Draco squeezes his hand as they walk.

“Yo Potter! Got yourself a boyfriend ‘ave you? Always knew you were a fag.” Dudley Dursley yells from a way in front of them, he and his friends laugh.

“Best not let your Mother hear you talk like that, you know how she feels about homophobic remarks. Do yourself a favour mate, go away Dudley,” Harry tells him in annoyance as he drags Draco passed them.

“Oi! Don’t walk away from me!” Dudley yells reaching out to grab Harry but instead grabbing Draco’s arm. Harry reacts instantly, pulling him from his grip, he pushes Dudley up against the wall with his arm over his throat. He grabs his wand and points it at Dudley’s stomach, his body hiding it from view of his friends, but not from Draco.

“Do. Not. Touch him. Do you hear me?!” Harry says threateningly. Dudley starts nodding frantically, trying to push his body further into the wall to get away from the wand. Harry pushes harder on his throat, jabbing the wand into his stomach again.

“Harry. He gets it, let him go,” Draco tells him, but Harry doesn’t hear him so Draco grabs his shoulder, “Let. Him. Go,” He orders harshly as he puts his hand on Harry’s wand, hoping he will give it to him. Harry looks back to him for a second, the madness and anger in his eyes giving way to a lost expression as Harry releases Dudley and steps away quickly, releasing his wand which Draco grabs and hides. Dudley runs over to his friends who all leave quickly, “Harry-” Draco begins to say as he grabs Harry’s shoulders but Harry pushes him away and steps back.

“Don’t. Let’s just go,” Harry says as he begins walking back to the tunnel. Once there the two grab the portkey and go back to the manor. 

They arrive just outside it seconds later.

“Harry, please talk to me,” Draco pleads him as the two begin walking inside.

“Talk about what, Dray?” Harry demands testily.

“Oh I don’t know, how about the fact that you nearly killed that guy? Who even was he?” Draco asks, trying to understand what had happened.

“Just someone I used to know, and even if I had killed him, he’d have deserved it,” Harry tells his friend.

“What, for grabbing my arm?” Draco asks incredulously as the two begin climbing the stairs to the room Harry is staying in, not noticing the shocked looks on their Fathers’ faces as they walk past. The two men look at each other before deciding to follow the boys.

“HE COULD HAVE HURT YOU!” Harry yells as he continues walking away from Draco who continues to follow him.

“HE WAS AIMING FOR YOU,” Draco reminds him.

“YEAH, THAT’S HOW I KNOW HE WAS GOING TO HURT YOU!”

“SO WHAT? YOUR ANSWER WAS TO TERRIFY THE CRAP OUT OF HIM, EXPOSE MAGIC TO MUGGLES AND KILL THIS BLOKE?” Draco yells back, confusing their fathers who are following a little ways behind. Surely Harry wasn’t so reckless.

“Oh don’t exaggerate Draco, it’s unbecoming. I didn’t _actually do_ anything to him,” Harry says at a slightly lower volume as the two of them finally reach his room and go in.

Draco slams the door behind him, “YOU WOULD HAVE! If I didn’t stop you when I did we both know you would have. You were out of control Harry, that’s what I want the explanation for!” Draco tells him.

“WELL I DON’T HAVE ONE! I don’t know what happened, Dray, I was just so god damned angry. That guy, his name was Dudley Dursley, he’s my cousin! You know what his Father is capable of, HE’S WORSE! I thought he had already hurt you, okay? That’s why I snapped out of it when I saw you, you were all right,” Harry explains, now breathing heavily from yelling.

“So what? You cast the killing curse, murder your cousin, end up in Azkaban, and call it a day?” Draco asks, clearly thinking Harry is an idiot.

“Actually, I was planning on crucio-ing him first but, yeah, that’s the gist of it,” Harry replies heatedly. Lucius and Voldemort, who are listening through the door, both gasp when they hear it, waiting with bated breath to see how Draco reacts.

“HARRY, YOU CAN’T JUST GO AROUND CRUCIO-ING PEOPLE YOU DON’T LIKE!” Draco yells after gaping at him for a moment or two.

“IF THEY HURT YOU THAN I’D LIKE TO SEE ANYONE TRY AND STOP ME! ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT IF SOMEONE HAD SERIOUSLY INJURED ME, YOU’D HAVE JUST LET THEM GO?” Harry yells, knowing it’s not true.

“OF COURSE NOT BUT THAT’S DIFFERENT!” Draco yells back.

“WHY BECAUSE IT’S YOU?” Harry asks angrily.

“NO, BECAUSE IT’S NOT YOU! IF YOU THINK I’M GOING TO LET YOU GO TO AZKABAN FOR ME THEN YOU ARE SORELY MISTAKEN!”

“AND IF YOU THINK THAT I’M GOING TO LET SOMEONE GET AWAY WITH HURTING YOU THAN YOU ARE JUST AS WRONG!”

“HERE I THOUGHT YOU WERE GAINING SOME INTELLIGENCE, BUT YOU’RE JUST THE SAME RECKLESS GRYFFINDOR YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN, _POTTER_!” Everyone within hearing distance of the fight, which is quite a bit of the house, freezes.

“Here I thought you were becoming a decent person. I guess we were both wrong,” Harry replies quietly a moment later, the only people who hear it are the boys and their Fathers. Draco slams the door open and storms out of the room in the direction of his own with tears streaming down his face. Lucius has never seen his son looking so hurt. Harry slams the door closed after him. Lucius and Voldemort exchange looks before both heading in the direction of their kids. Voldemort knocks on Harry’s door and ignores the yelled “Get lost”

“Harry?” He asks as he walks in the room and closes the door behind him, he is immediately greeted with a pillow ditched at him. “HARRISON! STOP THAT THIS INSTANCE!” Voldemort yells at him.

“NO! THIS IS YOUR FAULT. IF YOU HADN’T KILLED AUNT LILY AND UNCLE JAMES THEN I WOULD STILL BE WITH MUM, I NEVER WOULD HAVE MET DUDLEY, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!” Harry yells as he shoves his father, then punches his chest, he keeps punching him and Voldemort lets him. Soon, Harry runs out of strength and collapses forwards, Voldemort catches him and lowers the both of them onto the ground.

“I’ve got you, it’s alright Harry, you’re home, you’re safe, I’ve got you,” Voldemort says soothingly, he’s worked out what is going on and knows he has to just let Harry get it out.

A good ten minutes later and Harry has somewhat calmed down.

“I’m sorry Father, I don’t know what happened,” Harry confesses.

“I do,” He tells him, Harry looks at him questioningly, “Have you heard of the muggle mind illness called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?”

Harry groans, “You think I have PTSD?”

“Harry you reacted that way because you remembered a vaguely similar situation happening before and panicked about it possibly happening again. That, and I’m guessing you were on edge since visiting the Dursley’s. After everything you’ve been through, it would have been a miracle if you didn’t,” His father replies.

Harry thinks it over, the nightmares, the constant accidental everte statums, and now this. He supposes it makes sense.

“So how do I make it go away?” Harry asks, never having heard much on the subject.

“Well, for starters, by never having to go back there,” Voldemort tells him.

“Then where am I going to go?” Harry asks, not quite catching on to what his Father is suggesting. Draco had said he’d never be going back there, but Harry hadn’t considered where he is actually going to stay.

“Well you have two options. You can stay with your Uncle, I know Remus would be happy to take you in. But there would be risks involved and other things that I believe would make him uneasy, and you’d be moving a lot. Or you can stay with me,” Voldemort says, the last part oddly timid, Harry realizes that he’s afraid of being rejected by his son, again.

“Would we be staying here?” Harry asks though he hasn’t actually decided yet.

“Next school break, then we can begin moving into my house. I inherited it from my mother’s side of the family, it’s been unused since my maternal grandmother died but the house elves have kept it nice,” Voldemort replies, Harry nearly laughed. Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort living in a house together, it seemed like a bad joke. But Tom and Harrison Riddle living together, that he could get behind.

“I like the sound of that,” Harry tells his father, and for the first time in nearly seventeen years, Tom Riddle smiles.

Meanwhile,

Lucius follows after his son and knocks on his door. After getting no response he walks in to find his son laying on his bed doing something he has never seen him do before, save for after his mother died. Draco is crying. 

Actually, he’s sobbing into his pillow. Lucius doesn’t know how to react to the situation, tries to think of what Narcissa would have done. Then he realizes that Narcissa isn’t there, and at some point Lucius has to accept that he is the one raising Draco, not her. He has to do things that he thinks are best, not what he thinks she would. With that in mind, he climbs into the bed besides Draco and holds him as he cries.

“You love him, don’t you?” Lucius asks, Draco doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t really need to. They vaguely hear the sounds of Harry and his Father yelling before it goes quiet apart from the sounds of Draco’s tears.

 _Perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea to send the boys off together_ _…_ Lucius thinks to himself.

An hour later there’s a knock at the door before Harry pokes his head in and sees Lucius and Draco laying silently on the bed, though it’s clear neither are asleep.

“Can I come in?” Harry asks quietly, he sees Draco nod so he moves further into the room.

“I’ll give you two some privacy,” Lucius tells them as he leaves the room, a quick glare of warning at Harry before walking out.

“I’m sorry,” Draco says shocking Harry.

“Why? I’m the one who nearly killed someone, got angry at you for caring, and then said you were a terrible person,” Harry points out quietly.

Draco sits up on the side of the bed and looks down at his hands, shaking his head and smiling ruefully, “Yes, you did, and I’m pretty annoyed at that. But I knew a bit of what life had been like for you. At least enough that I should have known there was more going on than what I saw. You may be willing to kill people, but never without reason,” Draco explains.

“Look I’m not great with emotions. It’s not something I ever learned to deal with in any way other than repression, but I do know that it kind of stung when you didn’t even seem to try to understand, and I was so stuck in the past by that point that I honestly can’t remember a lot of what happened between leaving the house and a conversation I had with my Dad a few minutes ago. I _do_ know that I hurt you though, I never regret much, Dray, you know this, but I regret that,” Harry tells him. Draco nods thoughtfully. “So are we okay?” Harry asks after a few seconds silence.

“Yeah, we’re good. Also, I’m sorry I called you Potter, I know you hate that,” Draco tells him.

“I don’t hate being called Potter, it’s been my name my whole life, it’s my mother’s name, and it brings a feeling of safety to people when they hear it, makes me proud to be a Potter,” Harry tells his friend, of course it only leaves Draco feeling extremely confused.

“Then why don’t you let me and the others call you Potter anymore? Why Riddle? It’s got to be one of the worst names you could have chosen, though Black would have been worse,” Draco says to him.

“Because, tarnished as it may be, Riddle was supposed to be my name once upon a time. That pipe dream of a life that should have been mine is the only untarnished thing I have. The name Potter was ruined for me when I found out it had been a lie, that the people closest to me, the people I was supposed to be able to trust had been lying to me for years. That’s what it represents for me now, but more importantly, Sirius is gone, Remus is angry with me and I with him, I have no one else but my father. I don’t want to ever be anyone but his son or I might lose him too,” Harry tells him, knowing that were it anyone else he’d have stopped talking a long time ago, “Besides, when people hear it they don’t think of my Mum, they think of Aunt Lily and Uncle James. I don’t want people to think of them when they look at me. I’m not their son.”

“You’re wrong you know. About him being your only family. You have the Weasleys, you have Gra-uh-Willows, and even if he is mad at you, you still have Uncle Remus. And you have me. I may not be your family, but I am your friend, always,” Draco says to his best friend.

“And I yours. Now come on, I think our fathers still intend to take us shopping,” Harry informs him as he pulls Draco up.

“You called him Dad, you know,” Draco reminds him as they walk towards the door.

“My mistake,” Harry says shortly, leaving Draco confuzzled.

“Why is it a mistake? I thought you two were doing okay,” He asks.

“We are but, that title was reserved for someone else, even if I never used it nor ever would, it still belongs to them,” Harry explains.

Draco is still confused but decides not to push him, so they continue going down to see their fathers.

“Do you realise that, had there been no war, because of Father and Uncle Remus’ friendship, we probably would have grown up knowing each other.”

Harry chuckles as he looks at Draco, “I didn’t actually. Do you think I’d have called him Uncle Remus?”

Draco shakes his head, “No, you’d probably have called him Uncle Moony.” He and Draco chuckle for a moment before Harry hears a voice in his head, he’s pretty sure it’s him, calling for his ‘Un Moo’. He frowns as they continue walking.

After leaving Draco’s room, Lucius heads to his Lord’s study where he believes he will find him, he knocks when he reaches the door and enters when invited.

“Lucius, how is Draco faring?” Voldemort asks when he sees who’s walking in.

“He’ll be fine, just a bit upset by what Harry said. How is Harry?” Lucius questions, vaguely questioning when he started referring to the boy by his given name.

“I’m concerned that events from his past may be haunting him still, though the nature of those events is yet to be known. I feel a visit to a mind healer may be beneficial, do we have one in our ranks?” Voldemort asks, attempting to hide his concern for his son and failing greatly.

“We do my Lord, I question if this is the right course of action though,” Lucius tells him. A while ago he never would’ve dared question his Lord, especially about something so personal, but times have changed, _they_ have changed.

“Explain Lucius,” Voldemort demands calmly.

“The entirety of your following will no doubt know that young Harry is your son, taking him to see a mind healer will cause rumours that he may be weak or sick, perhaps even defenceless. And while we both know this isn’t true, if such theories were to get back to the enemy along with the knowledge of Potter’s visit, they may decide to take him out before he turns on them,” Lucius explains.

Voldemort nods as he thinks. “We shall have to be extremely careful about it then, I do worry about what the repercussions will be for Harry concerning all of this, but I fear he will be worse off if he doesn’t get help he may desperately need. Preferably before he kills someone. No need for two psychopaths in one family after all,” He answers after a few minutes, “We’ll get him to see the healer once and then it shall be his decision whether or not he sees them again,” He decides.

“Yes, my lord, if you permit it, I can have the healer here tomorrow afternoon,” Lucius tells him, he nods his agreement. Lucius begins to move out of the room to wait for their sons, but he stops and looks back momentarily. “Sir, forgive me if I’m overstepping but, I don’t think there are any psychopaths in your family. That would imply that you do not care but, no one does all this and puts in so much work for so long because they don’t care,” He says to his Master.

“Then why, pray tell, am I doing this, Malfoy?” Voldemort asks expectantly, the use of his last name showing Lucius that he’s getting defensive about the topic and Lucius must tread lightly.

“Because you care too much,” He replies before moving quickly out of the room. Voldemort sits there, dumbfounded. Never before has he been accused of that. Actually, that’s not true. 

He has once before, by his former best friend, Sirius.


	10. Follow Me Down

Chapter 9 – Follow Me Down

Note: Chapter Title from The Pretty Reckless’ song ‘Follow Me Down’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Voldemort sits there dumbfounded, never before has he been accused of that. Actually, that’s not true. He has once before, by his former best friend, Sirius._

Now,

“So, what exactly are we buying?” Harry asks as he and Draco join their Fathers.

Voldemort supresses the sigh that builds at his son’s constant questioning. Voldemort is _not_ used to being questioned. “Clothes that fit you, for one,” He tells the boy, Harry gives him a rather unamused look, presumably at his tone of voice. Draco appears to be attempting to hide a smirk, he’s not exactly succeeding. “Besides that, whatever you need.” Harry sighs at the vague response, not bothering to suppress it as his Father had.

“Where are we doing this?” Draco asks timidly, unsure if his question was appropriate but having spent too much time around Harry to not question everything. Lucius raises an eyebrow at his son, deciding to ignore it, and his hesitance, Draco pushes forward. “It’s not as though the four of us can just go shopping at Diagon Alley. And anywhere in the muggle world…well…we’d draw attention,” Draco reminds them, stumbling over his words to try and change the direction his sentence had been going. Somehow, he didn’t think Voldemort would appreciate a comment on his rather odd appearance. The two men look at each other as though that was not something they had considered.

“Perhaps you could wear a disguise of some kind?” Harry suggests.

“Polyjuice potion?” Draco offers.

Harry shakes his head, “No, that takes a month to brew. Plus, it’s…a little touchy in some ways.” The two adults and Draco all raise eyebrows, or in Voldemort’s case, makes an expression as though he has, at him. Harry shuffles awkwardly on his feet before treating them all to a lop-sided boyish grin.

“Oh, that can’t mean anything good,” Draco mutters.

Harry chuckles awkwardly, “You remember that time you found out Goyle could read?”

Draco nods slowly, unsure where this is going until suddenly it hit him. “You complete dick!” He suddenly exclaims, rather loudly. Voldemort is torn between amusement, disapproval, and being impressed. Lucius does not appear to know what to think. “And I suppose one of your little friends was Crabbe, then, too?”

Harry nods, “Ron.”

“What about Granger?” Draco frowns. “Sorry, Willows.” For all that he can be a cold-hearted bastard, this is not something he will just ignore, even if it hadn’t been someone he cares deeply for in some strange psychic connection type of way.

Harry hisses in a breath through clenched teeth. “That would be where the…touchiness comes from. Not really the spell, Hermione fucked up. Still, it went our way.”

“Why exactly did you three brew a Polyjuice potion in second year?”

“To spy on you,” Harry replies simply.

Draco looks like he’d swallowed a lemon. “Why?” He asks incredulously, he can’t think of anything he’d done that year to warrant it…unless… “Oh Merlin, you thought I was the heir to Slytherin, didn’t you?” Harry cringes but nods. “And I thought you were. Who was? In the end?”

“Erm…I’m not sure that’s really at all important.” Draco crosses his arms and treats Harry to a rather unimpressed look, Harry imitates his father as best he can. Draco seems to grow uncomfortable but does not back down, and until a hint of Inimicus comes through, he doesn’t plan to. “I dealt with it, it’s all good now, so it does not matter.”

“I can perform a simple glamour charm,” Voldemort eventually says.

“We should go to Diagon Alley, Harry needs books.” Harry looks at Draco in confusion, he just looks at him like he’s an idiot. “Don’t insult my intelligence by being so surprised I noticed you constantly borrowing Willows’ or the Weasel’s books. You have none of the required reading list.”

“Why not?” Lucius asks.

Harry stands up straighter then, drawing all nervousness deep within himself as had become survival habit for him over the years. “I did not get the opportunity to do so before school began.”

“Don’t you usually go with the Weasleys?” The elder Malfoy questions.

Harry remains calm as he responds, “Usually, but I didn’t want the company at the time. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but my Godfather had just recently been killed in front of me.” The line of questioning stopped, as had been Harry’s intention. “I believe it would look rather suspect if I were to be seen with the two of you. It’s in all of our best interests to keep my presence here quiet.” Draco twitches his nose slightly when Harry looks at him, he tries to think what the signal could mean. Harry thinks over what he said and realises too much Inimicus was coming through, he tones it down.

“If Willows can keep up a glamour for 6 years even while asleep, I’m sure you can manage one outing Po-uhh…Harry,” Draco says, purposefully putting in the near slip to make it appear as though the change of address is still very much conscious thought and not habit.

“I thought the rumours were exaggerated,” Lucius admits.

Draco shakes his head, “Only one who suspected anything was Harry.”

“I suspected she was hiding something from me, I hardly expected it to be her entire appearance. In any case…” Harry goes quiet all of a sudden, looking thoughtful, Lucius raises an eyebrow at him.

“Harrison?” Voldemort asks.

Harry glares at him, “I was going to say that while I can handle the glamour easily, it’s underage magic. I’ve nearly been arrested for that once before, it would be my fourth infraction over all, though one wasn’t _actually_ me. My point is, I’d rather not go through it again. It ended with Umbridge at our school. Then it occurred to me that Hermione got away with it for six years…”

“She’s powerful Harry, perhaps she found a way to hide her constant use of magic? Besides, she’s got to have repaired your glasses and/or nose outside of school before.”

Lucius looks confused, “She should not be able to do _anything_ outside of school. What do you mean she’s powerful? She’s a mudblood, is she not?” 

Harry glares daggers at the man. “Actually, she’s pureblood. And even if she weren’t, she’s my friend. I’d thank you to not so openly insult her to me.”

“I can cast the spell on you. Draco, perhaps you can attempt to find out how Miss Willows manages this during the next school term?” Voldemort suggests.

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Now then, let’s head off.”

“Actually, My Lord, you can’t cast the glamour on Harry.” Voldemort looks at Draco expectantly as Lucius’ eyes widen at his son telling the Dark Lord what he can and cannot do. Draco considers backtracking slightly to a less forceful opener, but ultimately decides that to do so would be showing a fear he no longer feels and a weakness that he does not believe would make the Dark Lord any happier with him, and so he presses forth, “What I mean to say is, Dumbledore had a Squib watching over Harry. She may have seen the two of us at the Dursley’s. If that is indeed the case, then if you put a glamour over Harry and Dumbledore puts together who it is, it will cause him to look closer at the other man with us with a glamour spell in mind.” 

Voldemort looks vaguely impressed with the boy, “What would you suggest then, young Malfoy?” Lucius very obviously attempts to remain calm as Draco squares his shoulders and stands tall, looking every bit the Malfoy heir who has every right to be advising the Dark Lord. And about his Son no less.

“My suggestion is a tad dark and hinders on Harry being willing to reveal something I doubt he wants revealed.” Harry and Voldemort give him the same look as they wait for him to continue, it’s almost adorable…almost. “Should anyone ask while out, we can either say it is none of their business, or should it be someone we must give an explanation to, we can bring up my Mother.”

“How so?” Voldemort questions as Lucius looks as though he’s swallowed _fifty_ lemons at the thought of using his late wife’s memory for personal gain.

“The Black family has never been the most loving, it stands to reason that should she have ever heard of Harry’s home life, she would have insisted we try to help him in some way. Following on that, and my well-known rivalry with him, it’s not a stretch to say I went over there to bother him while bored, saw what was happening, brought him home, and then insisted Father let him stay with us because that is what my mother would have wanted. After all, I want more than anything to honour her memory.” Draco adopts a genuinely loving but grief-stricken expression during his last sentence that impresses all those present.

“And if the Weasleys should question why he did not simply go to them?” Lucius questions, unsure how he feels about this plan.

“The twins and Ron have broken me out before, they know enough to know things aren’t amazing there. However, given that I’ve run away before and went back, and I did not run to them, it’s not exactly surprising that the only thing to actually make me leave would be someone forcing me too.” No one looks particularly comforted by his words, but they all agree to the plan whilst silently swearing to make sure he never goes back this time. For all that Lucius Malfoy appears cold and uncaring, he loves his Son more than anything and strongly believes everyone should. Children are the future after all, they should not be mistreated. Besides, Draco is right, Narcissa would have wanted them to help him.

It starts off a calm outing, considering the discussion before they left. They get Harry’s books and Draco gets some ingredients for a potion he’s brewing over the holiday. It’s when they go to buy clothes for Harry that things become…strange.

“What is it?” Lucius asks Harry when he just sort of stands around awkwardly in the store. Voldemort and Draco had gone off as soon as they entered the store, they’ve been discussing something quietly for a while. Lucius and Harry are suspicious but, so long as no attention is drawn to them, they hope it will be okay.

“This isn’t a good idea. If I suddenly turn up with my own clothes it’ll look suspicious.”

Lucius looks at him like he’s an idiot. “I’m a Slytherin, Mr Riddle, if you are going to lie, at least put some effort into it.” 

Harry sighs, “I’ve never…done this before.”

“Bought clothes?” Lord Malfoy asks, fully expecting the teen to roll his eyes and correct him to what he was actually talking about, but he doesn’t, he just bites his lip and looks to the ground. “I see. Come, all you need to do is find something you like,” Lucius tells him, inwardly cursing those blasted Muggles that were supposed to look after the kid.

Harry and Lucius walk through the clothing area for a while before it becomes clear to Lucius that Harry is only growing more nervous. He stops the boy, kneels down before him, and places his hands on his shoulders, making him look him in the eye.

“Harry, you are not going to be in any trouble for choosing clothes. I know that you do not know me well, and our interactions have hardly been flattering to date, but trust me now. All I wish to do is help you, and right now, that means helping you choose some clothes. But you’ve got to work with me here.” Harry still looks uncomfortable, but nods. They continue on, Lucius suggesting clothing and Harry approving or disapproving.

Sometime later they head back to the front of the store and find Voldemort (Under a glamour that makes him look like a rich but nerdy brunette) and Draco waiting outside the store with a container of some kind. The two quickly make their purchase before going to join the others.

“About time we head home, don’t you think?” Draco asks, a barely concealed smug grin on his face. Voldemort is far calmer, but there is still an aura of smugness about him.

“Very well,” Lucius replies, “I think we have all we need.” They head back.

The other three are quite impressed that the ever questioning Harry makes it back to the Mansion before asking the question burning on his lips.

“Okay, _what_ is in the container?!” Lucius allows himself to smile in amusement slightly when the boy finally cracks, Draco just looks to the Dark Lord for permission. Once granted he hands the container over to Harry who puts it on the ground and opens it. There’s a snake inside, it slithers out and looks around. It turns to Voldemort who nods at Harry before it looks to him.

 _“Your Father tells me you speak my tongue?”_

Harry smiles widely, _“I do, though I do not often get a chance to do so.”_

The snakes tongue comes out in a snake like way before it nods, _“Well, Mr Riddle, now you can. I was bought for you after all.”_

Harry frowns, _“You can’t buy a sentient being.”_ Lucius and Draco notice Voldemort’s eyes fill with pride for a moment, then they dull back to what the two are used to, something that has not happened since Harry arrived.

_“Yes, he thought you might say something like that. I assure you, he did ask first. There are not many Parselmouths around, so I was happy one found me. And more than happy to be the companion of another. It does get dull only speaking to snakes when they have the same experiences in a pet shop you do.”_

_“Yes, I imagine it would. Well, spending any time with me usually leaves people with interesting stories to tell.”_ The snake seems amused at his words, then something occurs to Harry, _“Do you have a name?”_

 _“I do not, perhaps you could give me one?”_ Harry thinks it over before smiling.

“That look is never good news,” Draco comments.

Harry glares at him before turning back to the snake, _“What about Stripes?”_

_“I do not have stripes.”_

_“You were the one who wanted to be interesting.”_ The snake glares at Harry. _“Okay, not stripes. What about Zippy?”_

The snake makes a noise that has Draco looking to Harry in fond amusement. “Did that snake just sigh at you?”

“Given what he said, I would have too,” Voldemort tells them, “Also, Harrison, you are now banned from naming anything. Ever.”

“Okay, okay, not Zippy.”

“Oh Merlin,” Draco mutters as Lucius and Voldemort decide their presence is not needed and leave. Draco takes a seat beside Harry in the middle of the foyer. “Can snakes understand us even when we cannot understand them?” The snake nods at Draco whose eyes widen, “Oh, well, Hello.” The snakes tongue flickers again. It makes a hissing noise.

“She says Hi.” Draco smiles. _“What about Illabor? It means slither in Latin. Or we could shorten it to Illa?”_ The snake hisses in approval, Harry internally thanks Pansy for having mentioned it once while discussing snakes, “All right, Malfoy, er…Draco, this is Illa. Illa, this is Draco Malfoy.” Illa nods to Draco who nods back.

That night, after dinner, Draco goes to Harry’s room and hands a piece of parchment over for him to see.

“This arrived from Pansy. I don’t think the enchanted parchment works from this distance.”

“I’ll see if I can find a way to boost its range when we get back. There’s bound to be a book in the library on it.”

“Maybe so, but it would probably be in the restricted section. I doubt there is anything for this specific spell, but a general boost of power to a spell is probably not left around for students to find. It could be very dangerous.”

Harry nods, “That’s not a problem, I know that section of the library better than the open parts of it.”

“The cloak, right?” Harry nods. “Where did you even get that thing?” Harry’s expression darkens rapidly. Draco sucks in a breath, “Dumbledore, got it. What does the note say?” 

Harry returns his attention to the parchment in his hand, Illa slithers up his back to look over his shoulder. “Blood Magic,” He whispers under his breath, Draco raises an eyebrow though he isn’t looking at him.

_“What have you gotten yourself into, Riddle?”_

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” He tells Illa, she gives him a look that Draco can only describe as the snake version of raising an eyebrow in disbelief, “Okay it is, it’s complicated.”

_“I will not tell your Father if that is what you are worried about.”_

_“Much as I would love to take your word for that, he is not exactly the most trustworthy man.”_

_“I know exactly who he is, Harrison.”_

“Oh for…*takes calming breath* It’s Harry.”

_“Riddle, your Father asked that I keep an eye on you, not that I report back to him. Besides, I am your companion, not his.”_

Harry nods, _“Not here.”_ Illa nods her assent. Harry writes on a different piece of parchment.

_Take what I left with you. In the restricted section, middle row of shelves. The shelf at the back of that row should have everything you need. See if you can find a way to work around._

Draco reads it over, nodding in agreement that it’s as vague as he can get. He immediately takes it out to his owl and sends it back to Pansy.

The next day at breakfast, things are far, far, less awkward. His Father looks almost content. Then Harry notices the glazed over look in Draco’s eyes and that he is just staring at his plate instead of eating. Harry catches the eye of Lucius and looks to Draco, Lucius follows his gaze and sees it, nodding his thanks to Harry when he immediately starts a conversation with his Father to keep him from noticing.

After breakfast, Draco’s snapped out of it but is not very with it yet, so Harry subtly leads him to his room and talks to him as he’s seen Pansy and Blaise do in the past. Eventually Draco looks him in the eyes.

“Why is she looking into Dumbledore?” Draco whispers questioningly.

“She doesn’t trust him, thinks he might be working for Voldemort.” Draco raises an eyebrow at that, Harry chuckles, “I agreed that some things were a bit suspect but denied any accusations of him working with Voldemort. I’m hoping she’ll find discrepancies in his history by focusing on him instead of wasting time looking into my Father.”

“What’s Weasley’s take on it?”

“He doesn’t believe Dumbledore is against us in anyway, but after everything he’s seen, if she finds something he won’t deny it outright.” Draco nods silently, they both sit for a while, thinking it all over before Draco decides to give Harry a tour of the Manor.

During dinner that night, everything seemed calm until Voldemort suddenly looks at his Son, utterly bewildered.

“Something wrong, Father…?” Harry asks, confused by the abrupt change of attitude.

“Why was there a Basilisk in the school?!”

Harry looks confused, “How could you have possibly not known? You opened it twenty years prior!” Draco looks surprised by that but Harry waves a hand dismissively at him, he shrugs and listens though doesn’t voice his questioning.

“Yes, but there was no Basilisk there then.”

“What do you think killed Myrtle Warren?!” Voldemort looks surprised. “Wait, you didn’t seriously think the timing of that was coincidental, did you?”

“I never saw any damned Basilisk, excuse me for not jumping to that conclusion. I thought it was that bloody spider that Rue insisted on keeping about the place.”

Harry frowns in bewilderment, “Okay wait, if you weren’t controlling it back then, who was?”

Draco clears his throat, deciding to interject after all, “Does someone have to? Can’t it just have killed because it does?”

Harry looks conflicted, “See, the thing is, it could. But if that’s the case, why doesn’t it do it constantly? It has access to the pipes, so why has it only turned up when the Chamber has been opened?”

“Perhaps the Chamber opening awakens the creature from some kind of hibernation?” Lucius suggests, Harry and Voldemort share a thoughtful look.

“Perhaps, but that still does not explain what it is doing down there to begin with, not to mention, how can someone control a Basilisk?”

Harry shrugs, “Supposedly only the heir to Slytherin can. Salazar Slytherin is said to have built the Chamber and hidden a most terrible monster within that only the heir of Slytherin can control.”

“So how can control of such a beast be passed down generationally, and why put a reptile in the Chamber? It’s not the best environment for a snake of any kind. They all require warmth, not cold stone.”

“Blood Magic,” Draco suddenly says, remembering Harry’s words earlier. Lucius looks concerned that his son thought of that so quickly.

“There _are_ ways to bind a creature to your family line, it’s a form of blood binding,” Voldemort tells the boys.

Harry looks thoughtful, “This seems like a lot of effort to go through for seemingly no reason.”

“Well that’s the easiest bit, isn’t it?” Draco replies.

“What do you mean by that?”

“My Lord, it’s rather simple. Why would you put a Basilisk in a place only a handful of people can get to, let alone find, and allow only the heir, in this case Harry, to control?”

Voldemort looks thoughtful, looks to Harry who also looks confused, then both of them realise.

“Time Capsule.”

“What?” Lucius asks.

“It’s a muggle thing. The basis is, you seal something that can only be opened after a certain amount of years, when that time has passed, you unseal it and have something from the past,” Harry explains.

“In this case, we think he left something behind that he wanted his descendants to have, and so made them the only ones who could access it,” Voldemort adds.

“This seems like a pretty severe security measure, so whatever it is, it must be important,” Harry finishes. Given that they have no more answers, but many questions, they fall silent as they ponder all they have discussed. Though even more so, Harry finds himself questioning how this can even be happening, how can Voldemort be so damned domestic whilst also being the person who twice used the Cruciatus Curse on his own son?

Surprisingly, nothing much else happens for the two weeks of holidays. Harry and his Father continue butting heads frequently, but Voldemort has a suspicion what Harry is really doing is pushing his limits to see how he reacts. Afraid that he’ll end up just like Vernon Dursley, he’d rather find out now than after he believes himself to be safe. They do not hear from Pansy or Blaise again, Harry hasn’t really decided if that’s a good sign or not but figures they’ll find out upon their return. Also there’s an incident with a clown, but if Harry has his way that will never be spoken about again.

By the end of it, they are all ready for the break that school brings.

Lucius takes both boys to the train station after Voldemort informs Harry that he’ll write to him. Harry figures that’s as heartfelt a goodbye as his Father is capable of giving and tells him he’ll write back. Lucius tells the boys to look after each other, the two look at each other as though they have no intention of conversing at all.

“And they’re back,” Lucius mutters dryly, “Right, try not to get into too much trouble.” He pats Draco on the shoulder before he leaves.

“Oh, if he only knew. Good bye, Potter,” Draco says holding out his hand.

Harry looks at it, remembering the last time Draco offered him his hand to shake six years ago. This time, Harry takes it.

“Malfoy.” They part ways, Harry heading straight over to the Weasleys, and Draco to Crabbe and Goyle.

“So, the rumours are true, you were with the Malfoys?” Ron asks him incredulously, Harry nods ruefully. “What the bloody hell happened?”

“Language Ronald!” Molly says as she swats his head, Ginny and Harry share a look of amusement at it. “But what _did_ happen, Harry? You aren’t in any trouble, are you?”

“No, I’m not. Zabini and Parkinson stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays, Malfoy got bored and decided to come torment me. He uh, happened to witness Uncle Vernon being…unfair. Practically dragged me out of there and home with him. Lord Malfoy heard what happened and decided I would stay with them.”

“Why would he do that?” Ginny asks him.

Harry looks uncomfortable, looks around as if making sure no one else would hear before he leans in closer to them. “Took me a while to find out but, because of Narcissa Malfoy.” 

Ron, Ginny, and the twins look confused, Molly seems to understand.

“I’d forgotten, what with her being such a horrid woman. She was very avid about protecting children.”

“Funny way of showing it,” Ron mumbles.

Harry withholds the sighs, “She was born into the Black family, you can hardly be surprised that she cared so much about children’s safety. Anyway, turns out Lord Malfoy believes he is honouring his wife’s memory by doing this. I don’t really care why he’s doing it, I was safe.”

“Harry, you know you could have come to us, always,” Ron reminds him.

He nods, “I know but…I just never had the strength to leave for long. I don’t really know why. I tried to leave once, Malfoy stopped me, told me to stop being an idiot and dragged me to the kitchen. We just sat there in silence and drank hot chocolate until I sort of…broke. I uh, I told him everything. He just calmly informed me that I would never have to go back there, and if I should ever feel the need to, he’d keep me from doing it until I came to my senses again.” The Weasleys don’t look particularly comforted by the lie Draco and Harry had put together. “I know, okay? It’s the Malfoys. I’m being careful, I promise.” The train horn blows, warning of impending departure.

“Well, best get on that train. Just…look after yourself Harry.” Harry refrains from reminding Molly that he’s been doing so his entire life and isn’t dead yet. Somehow, given his track record, he figures none of that will help.

They get on the train, Harry opening Illa’s container after they get settled in a compartment and letting her out.

 _“You all right, Illa?”_ He asks her.

 _“I’m fine, Riddle, it’s you we should worry about.”_ Harry rolls his eyes at her before looking up to check on Hedwig, the owl seems fine.

“You got a snake?” Ron asks.

Harry nods, “Wanted someone to speak Parseltongue to and no other human I know can so…snake. Her name’s Illa.”

Ron nods awkwardly, “Erm, Hi, Illa.”

The snake nods to him before looking back at Harry, _“My presence seems to be making your friend uncomfortable.”_

 _“There was a Basilisk in the school a few years ago, he’s been wary of snakes ever since.”_ Illa flickers her tongue. “So how were your holidays, Ron?” Harry asks as Illa coils herself around his arm. As much as she can anyway, she’s not exactly a small snake.

“Good I s’pose. Did you hear from Hermione?” 

“How could I have? I doubt she’s going to think to send an owl to Malfoy Manor.”

Ron concedes his point but seems twitchy at the reminder of where Harry had been. “Right, well, she thinks she’s found something on Dumbledore, but she wouldn’t explain. Said it would be easier to show us. I’m a bit concerned this is going to be one of those times she’s gotten so into things she’s created a nest of information that will take us weeks to understand.”

“Let’s hope she’s gotten better at walking us through it.”

 _“Why is your friend investigating Dumbledore?”_ Illa asks Harry.

“Suspicious behaviour,” Harry replies. Noticing the confused expression on his friend’s face, he explains, “She was asking what Hermione was doing looking into Dumbledore.” Ron nods, still wary. Harry supposes that, for someone who cannot hold a conversation with them, snakes just seem like pets.

“Are those new clothes?” Harry looks down at himself and nods. “Another gift from the Malfoys?”

“I think this had more to do with their image than anything else. Can hardly have a child staying with them dressed in rags after all,” Harry drawls, Ron snorts in laughter.

Eventually they get to school and immediately head into the Great Hall, for once being one of the first through the door. The entire stampede of students that had been entering freeze upon seeing the scene before them. On the Gryffindor table, all the students who had stayed behind are sat, along with McGonagall and Snape.

Around the table on the left side is Anthony Goldstein (Ravenclaw), then Neville, Mandy Brocklehurst (Ravenclaw), and McGonagall. On the right side is Hermione, then Pansy, then Blaise, then Lavender, then Susan Bones (Hufflepuff), and Snape. Pansy is leaning back against Hermione who has her arms wrapped around her. Blaise has an arm over Lavender’s shoulders. Snape appears to have just finished regaling them with a story, they are all laughing, including Snape and McGonagall. All seem to be ignoring the bewildered looks of the Professors at the teachers’ table.

“It appears we’ve let time get away from us, welcome back students,” McGonagall says to the growing group of stunned students as she and Snape get up and head over to their own seats.

“Umm,” Harry says dumbly, Draco pushes his way through the crowd with Crabbe and Goyle, coming to stop beside Harry.

“Turns out there’s actually no rule saying you have to sit in your house groups,” Neville tells them all, no one seems to know quite what to do. 

Draco just shrugs, “When in Rome, right Harry?” He asks him. Harry sighs at his friend as Draco walks over, Blaise and Pansy making a space for him between them.

“And so, it continues,” Harry says dryly as he takes a seat beside Hermione. Harry’s actions seem to jog the school out of its stupor as they all find a place to sit, houses melding like never before, “So, seems like you had an interesting break, Hermione.”

“I did indeed. It all started when Pans heard me singing, and ended with some serious bonding sessions about being who we are without hiding.”

“No holding back,” Lavender adds.

Hermione smiles and nods at the girl, “Well put, Lav.” 

Ron looks shocked, given Hermione and Lavender’s less than stellar relationship. “So, Harry’s living with the Malfoy’s, you’re friends with these two, and Snape was laughing. I’ve now seen it all,” Ron decides.

Draco chuckles, “Until you see Harry unexpectedly meet a clown, you have not seen everything.”

“Let it go, Malfoy, it wasn’t that bad!”

“You punched a clown! At a little girl’s birthday party, you broke the clown’s nose!”

“Clowns are creepy!” Harry defends as Draco just laughs at him.

“Did you say they were living together?” Hermione asks Ron who nods, “What the ever living-”

“Children around, Hermione!” Harry interrupts, knowing how that sentence would have ended. Of course, those not from the muggle world are confused while those of it chuckle or laugh.

“How did you two end up living together?”

“Well it’s not so much us living together as Harry moving into the Manor. It’s complicated,” Draco explains, the eight students that had stayed over holidays exchange amused looks. “What?” He asks Blaise who schools his features.

“Nothing.” 

Draco scowls at him, about to open his mouth when Dumbledore rises to give his speech. “This isn’t over,” He tells his friend.

“Welcome back, looking around I can see huge changes within the school, never before have we seen such acceptance between the houses. I hope our school continues to pull together, and that house rivalries can be a thing of the past. Well, as much as can be expected as you all try to win the house cup. Now, our new DADA teacher has arrived, please welcome Professor Lucius Malfoy to our staff. We thank him for taking over. Now please, enjoy the feast!” Dumbledore exclaims before retaking his seat.

Draco and Harry look to each other bewildered.

“Did he talk to you about that?” Harry asks Draco who shakes his head.

“You?”

Harry shakes his head, “He mentioned wanting to take a more active role in the school, I thought he meant funding or overseeing excursions or something.” The two turn to look at Lucius who meets their gaze and smiles slyly. The boys gulp and go back to eating.

“He did say he was going to keep an eye on us,” Draco comments.

Harry nods, “I didn’t think he meant that close an eye.”

“Why is he keeping an eye on you?” Mandy asks.

Draco looks unimpressed though more at the answer than the question, “He seems to think we get in a lot of trouble. Which is ridiculous, because Harry is the one who seems to be going for a record of breaking every school rule in existence.”

“You are just as bad, if not worse,” Harry replies with a glare, people snickering around them.

“Everything I’ve done has been in response to something you’ve done!”

“That is so not true, and even if it were, you still made the choice to react!”

“It so _is_ true,” Draco replies, their voices growing louder. Harry opens his mouth to retort when he looks over Draco’s shoulder and immediately backs down. Everyone who had been paying attention look over and see Lucius looking at the two unimpressed. Draco goes back to eating, both boys looking thoroughly chastised. Hermione looks to Pansy and mouths ‘definitely their fault’ to the confusion of everyone who did not stay over the holidays.

“Wow, maybe we can have our first quiet year since we started at this school,” Ron suggests.

“I doubt it, did you lot hear about the Smigin family?” Seamus asks them, no one seems to have, “They disappeared.” Everyone seems to gasp, though Blaise, Pansy, and Draco all very subtly look at Harry who is looking every bit as shocked as the others.

“Speaking of that whole incident, did you hear about Slughorn?” Ron asks, this a few nod at, many others have not, “He was murdered.”

“What?” Draco asks, completely shocked. Blaise and Pansy exchange looks, looking over at Harry, they try to decide if he is actually surprised or not, but come up with nothing.

“Do they know who did it?” Harry asks, Ron shakes his head, “Working theory?” Ron looks at him in confusion.

“He means do they have any suspicions or an idea of why someone would do this? A working theory of what happened, it’s a muggle expression,” Draco explains. Everyone seems surprised that he knows the meaning of a muggle expression. He pulls out a small notebook, holding it up. “I’m working on a dictionary of understanding muggle-borns and half-bloods. He’s impossible to understand sometimes,” Draco explains, nodding his head towards Harry who throws a bread roll at him, Draco moves to retaliate when they hear someone clear their throat, looking up they see Severus looking at them warningly, they both calm down.

“Suddenly everyone cares if we get along or not,” Harry mutters under his breath disdainfully.

“No, I think that one is just from my Father telling him about the food fight.”

“What food fight?” Ron asks in confusion.

“That one actually wasn’t either of our faults. I mean we didn’t help, but we didn’t start it,” Draco tells them, Harry chuckles but agrees.

“Sounds like I’m not the only one who had an interesting break,” Hermione says with a sly grin, Ron and Harry look surprised at the look on her face. “No holding back,” She explains, Ron just shakes his head, bewildered.

Harry smiles fondly and nods.

“No holding back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So just a reminder in case anyone has forgotten since it happened in The Boy Who Never Cried Wolf, instead of the Chamber opening fifty years prior to Chamber of Secrets, it’s only twenty.
> 
> Okay I just recounted, it’s more like fifteen.


	11. Family Portrait

Chapter 10 – Family Portrait

Note: Chapter Title from P!nk’s song ‘Family Portrait’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I also do not own ‘I Got Nerve’ or ‘Going to Hell’, those belong to Miley Cyrus (I think?) and The Pretty Reckless, respectively.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_The holidays have begun, most have gone home on the train, but a few remain behind. This is how their holidays went._

Now,

After a full day of reading up on Dumbledore, and then most of the night, Hermione finds herself in need of a break. She heads outside on the 2nd morning of the holidays, taking with her an object none even knew she owned save for her three closest friends, her acoustic guitar.

She goes to the Whomping Willow, a tree most are afraid to even go near, but she and it had developed an understanding over the years. As such, when she grew close, the tree put a branch down for her which she gratefully climbed. Sitting on the branch with her back against the trunk of the tree, her guitar in position, she began to play and then to sing.

“ _We haven_ _’_ _t met, and that_ _’_ _s okay,_

_coz you will be asking for me one day._

_Don_ _’_ _t wanna wait, in line,_

_the moment is mine believe me._ ”

It’s like this that Pansy finds her. As she gets closer, the tree, as though sensing her intentions, allows for her to climb a branch adjacent to Hermione’s.

“Can I help you?” Hermione asks when she notices her companion.

Pansy smiles, “I was just admiring your singing, I’ve never heard the song before.”

“Probably because it’s a muggle song,” Hermione says as though that would convince the girl to turn away in disgust.

“Can I hear more?” Pansy asks. Hermione looks confused and distrustful, however she nods and begins to play, picking up where she left off.

“ _Don't close, your eyes  
Cause it's a chance worth takin'  
And I think that I can shake you_

_I know where I stand  
I know who I am  
I would never run away when life gets bad, it's  
Everything I see  
Every part of me  
Gonna get what I deserve  
I got nerve_

_Electrified, I'm on a wire  
Gettin' together and we're on fire  
What I said, you heard  
Now I got you spinnin'_

_Don't close, your mind  
The words I use are open  
And I think that I can show you_

_I know where I stand  
I know who I am  
I would never run away when life gets bad, it's  
Everything I see  
Every part of me  
I know I can change the world yeah, yeah, yeah_

_  
I know what you like  
I know what you think_

_Not afraid to stare you down until you blink, it's  
Everything I see  
Every part of me  
Gonna get what I deserve  
I got nerve_

_You, you need to discover  
Who can make you feel free  
And I, need to uncover  
The part of you that's reaching out for me, hey!_

_I know where I stand  
I know who I am  
I would never run away when life gets bad, it's  
Everything I see  
Every part of me  
I know I can change the world yeah, yeah, yeah_

_  
I know what you like  
I know what you think  
Not afraid to stare you down until you blink, it's  
Everything I see  
Every part of me  
Gonna get what I deserve  
I got nerve!_

_I know what you like  
I know what you think  
Not afraid to stare you down until you blink, it's  
Everything I see  
Every part of me  
Gonna get what I deserve  
I got, I got nerve!_”

“Wow, that was really cool,” Pansy tells her, Hermione smiles at the girl, blushing slightly. “Actually, that song kind of reminds me of you.”

“How so? I tend to be a pushover if you ask me.”

Pansy smiles at the girl, “No, you act the part of a shy nerd eager to please and easy to push around, but from what I have seen, you’re determined and stubborn and more than prepared to stand up for what you believe in and make yourself heard.” Hermione pushes her platinum blonde hair behind her ear as she blushes again. “This leaves me with a question though.”

Hermione raises an eyebrow, “And what question might that be?”

“Why the act?” Pansy asks, unable to work it out, Hermione bites her lip as she looks towards her fishnet clad legs. Pansy had to give it to her, the girl had style now that she wasn’t hiding it. Today, she had on a red corset that went from the middle of her chest to the bottom of her ribcage, black shorts, suspenders that she’s wearing properly, and fishnet stockings, along with leather fingerless gloves and knee high black boots with laces all the way up. She also had black nail polish on her short nails, black lipstick, black and intense eye makeup, and some wonderfully done contouring as her hair falls in loose curls around her. Pansy thinks she must use magic to brush through it because, open to the wind like that, it must get ridiculously knotty.

“Because being who I really am gets me moved from home to home, school to school, all without making any friendships at all, let alone a lasting one. So, when I came to live with the Grangers, I decided to be different. I lasted a year prior to Hogwarts, then my letter came, along with an explanation for the strange occurrences that would follow me around like a ghost I just couldn’t ditch. I thought for sure I’d be out of there then, only they kept me. So, I made it clear I wanted to stay, that I wanted to be their daughter, I used my newfound magic to make me look more like them, had my name changed to their surname, and continued to behave as perfectly as I could, get the highest marks I could. Of course, being friends with Harry means getting into stupid situations, danger, and trouble. And in the end they got rid of me anyway.” Hermione sighs, “The Willows seem fond of me though, so that’s nice.” 

Pansy looks at the girl, “Willows, has it ever occurred to you that, perhaps, things are working out this time because you found people that care for you. Regardless of your weirdness or persona and such. That maybe all of this wasn’t necessary.” 

Hermione gives her a watery smile and chuckle, “You don’t know what I was like before, trust me, they never would have kept me.”

“So show me, show me what you were like. Behave however you like at home, but I’ve always found that the best part of going to Hogwarts is getting to be whoever you like without your parents being around to see it.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Hermione asks with a perplexed look on her face. 

Pansy just shrugs non-committedly, “I met someone recently, he made me realise that I was hiding too. So, I guess I’m just taking my own advice.”

Hermione seems to debate something before shifting her guitar slightly and holding her hand out to the other girl, “Hi, I’m Hermione Willows, I usually just go by Mio though.”

Pansy grins at her, “Nice to meet you, Mio. I’m Pansy Parkinson, my friends call me Pans, I’d like it if you were one of them.”

“I think I’d like that too.” 

They smile at each other for a moment before Pansy nods to the guitar.

“Know any other songs, Pretty Lady?” Hermione blushes again, Pansy decides to make it her mission to make that happen as often as possible.

“I know a lot of songs on Guitar.”

“What’s your favourite?” 

Hermione thinks this through for a while before she starts playing. It’s not a song made for acoustic guitar, but she plays it anyway.

“ _Father did you miss me,  
Been locked up a while.  
I got caught for what I did but took it all in style.  
Laid to rest all my confessions I gave way back when.  
Now I'm versed in so much worse,  
So I am back again, heresy_

_For the lives that I take, I'm going to hell!  
For the love that I make, I'm going to hell!_

_Gettin' married to the devil, you can hear the wedding bells._

_Father did you miss me,  
Don't ask me where I've been.  
You know I know, yes, I've been told I redefine sin.  
I don't know what's driving me to put this in my head.  
Maybe I wish I could die, maybe I am dead!  
Heresy_

_For the lives that I fake, I'm going to hell!  
For the vows that I break, I'm going to hell!_

_For the ways that I hurt, when I'm hiking up my skirt.  
I am sitting on a throne while they're buried in the dirt._

_For the man that I hate, I'm going to hell!_

_Gettin' married to the devil, you can hear the wedding bells._

_Please forgive me father,  
I didn't mean to bother you.  
The devil's in me father.  
He's inside of everything I do._

_For the lives that I take, I'm going to hell!  
For the laws that I break, I'm going to hell!  
For the love that I hate, I'm going to hell!  
For the lies that I make, I'm going to hell!_

_For the way I condescend and never lend a hand._  
My arrogance is making this head buried in the sand.  
For the souls I forsake, I'm going to hell!

_Gettin' married to the devil, you can hear the wedding bells_.”

“Well, wasn’t expecting that but, I like it.”

Hermione grins mischievously, “The Pretty Reckless isn’t for everyone but, I’ve loved them for many years. I’ve loved the lead singer, Taylor Momsen, for as long as I can remember actually, she’s amazing.” 

Pansy smiles, making a show of looking around and leaning closer before speaking quietly, “Don’t tell anyone but, I actually quite like muggle music.” 

Hermione chuckles at her new friend’s dramatics. “Thought we weren’t hiding who we are anymore?” Hermione asks with a laugh and a challenge in her eye.

Pansy smirks at her before standing up on the branch and yelling at the top of her voice, “I, PANSY PERNIX PERVIVO PARKINSON, LOVE MUGGLE MUSIC AND LISTEN TO IT WHEN I’M STUDYING OR NEED TO FOCUS!” Hermione laughs, after Pansy sits down she joins in. “Okay, your turn. Shout out some part of yourself you’ve been hiding, no matter how obscure.”

Hermione thinks it over before she hands her guitar over to Pansy, carefully making sure neither of them, nor the guitar, fall out of the tree. Then she stands up, turns and yells as Pansy had done.

“I, HERMIONE ANTLIA WILLOWS, HATE BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO SO MUCH I ONCE BURNED DOWN A LIBRARY!” The two laugh again.

“Why the hell would you burn down a library?!” Pansy asks as she laughs and vaguely remembers a story Lord Malfoy once told her about Remus’ history of arson related activities.

Hermione tries to calm herself from her laughing fit before responding, “I was eight, my social worker told me if I studied more or worked harder people would like me more and keep me instead of continually sending me back. I walked away from her, to the library next door to the school I was at, and set it on fire. It hurt, watching the books burn, I love reading as I’m sure you know. But I had a point to make and I was damned well going to make it.”

“Salazar, you’re a psycho!” Pansy tells her, though still laughing with her, “I’m almost afraid to ask but, after that answer I find myself questioning something else, how many times have you been arrested?”

“Three, once for pick-pocketing, once for the library, and once for shoplifting. Though they did pull me up on an assault once but my pare-” Hermione swallows, “The Grangers, that is, helped me with it and I was let off with a warning.”

“What’s pick-pocketing?” Pansy asks curiously.

Hermione raises an eyebrow before shaking her head like she should not have been surprised by that. “A muggle term, apparently. It’s when you steal something from someone’s pocket, you’re picking something out of a pocket, hence the term, pick-pocketing.”

“That seems stupid, how would someone not notice someone taking something out of their pockets?”

“Skill and obliviousness are a pick-pocketers best friends. Some people are terrible at it but, in my kind of life, you learn to do it pretty quickly.” 

“Hey um, you said you changed your name to their last name, what was it before?” Pansy asks hesitantly. 

Hermione hesitates, this is something she has hesitated about revealing since she found out she’s a pureblood. The name is common in the Muggle world, but in the wizarding one? As a pureblood? There is only one.

“Hermione Antlia Black.” Pansy’s eyes widen, Hermione shrugs, “What about you, what’s Pernix and Pervivo about?”

“Latin. Pernix means ‘the nimble’ and Pervivo means ‘I live on’. I asked my Father about it once, he said it was something he and Mother learnt in the war,” Pansy replies.

They sit quietly, enjoying the early morning for a while, occasionally talking back and forth before deciding to head in to breakfast.

“Ah, Miss Willows, Miss Parkinson, there you two are. Though I do hope you haven’t come in for the sole purpose of burning down a library,” Professor McGonagall tells the two as they enter.

Pansy chuckles as Hermione hesitates for a moment before breaking out in a confident and sassy grin.

“Not this morning, Professor, but tomorrow, who knows,” She says before all but sashaying towards the Gryffindor table. The few students present all look shocked at her actions from their places at their house tables, Snape and McGonagall share a look of surprise across the room. Pansy just laughs as she sits across from Hermione. An owl comes in, a letter landing in front of her, just as they begin eating. She grabs the envelope, opening it and recognising her Leader’s handwriting immediately. She reads it quickly before putting it in her pocket to deal with later.

“Parents,” Pansy tells Hermione who smiles.

After breakfast the girls go their separate ways, with plans to meet up at lunch.

Hermione goes to the library and continues her relentless search for anything and everything on Dumbledore.

Pansy goes back to the Slytherin common room with Blaise where she hands the letter she received to him.

“Does it worry you how well he seems to know the restricted section of the library.”

“I believe the real question is, does it surprise me? The answer to which is, of course, no, no it does not.”

“We go tonight, then?” Blaise asks, Pansy nods to him, placing the letter in the box under bed she keeps the cloak in.

When Hermione and Pansy see each other at lunch, Pansy seems twitchy as she waits for nightfall, and Hermione seems downhearted after yet another researching bust.

The two do their best to make each other feel better and end up exploring the castle, trying to find areas neither had seen before.

That night, Pansy and Blaise sneak into the restricted section whilst hiding under the cloak of invisibility. They follow the directions on the letter before looking around, seeing they are alone, they pull the cloak off and take a closer look at the books.

“Blood magic?” Blaise asks, seeing the topic of all the books, Pansy shrugs as she grabs a book from the shelf. “That doesn’t make you pause at all? This is seriously dangerous stuff, Pans!”

“Lower your damn voice, Zabini,” Pansy tells him harshly, “Yes, of course, it worries me. But he’s the boss, we do as he says. When we need to know, we’ll know.”

“And you’re just fine with that? Blindly following his orders?”

Pansy looks to him in a suspecting manner as the two sit down to read, “You aren’t? Why did you join up if you weren’t going to throw yourself into this? Do you not think he can do this?”

Blaise sighs, “It’s not that. It just seems so sudden, one day he’s all chummy with the man, the next he wants him dead. Doesn’t that seem a little suspicious to you?”

Pansy glares at him, “Blaise, you have been questioning him, rather rudely, since this started. It’s time you make a damned decision, in or out. Because this is our cause, this is _my_ cause, and I believe in it. I believe in him,” She tells him, leaving no room for argument.

“I believe in the cause as well, and I _do_ believe he can get us there.”

“Then what’s the problem?” She asks, calming significantly.

“I’m afraid, Pansy.” Pansy looks at him in surprise. “I know, I’ve never been the kind to admit that sort of thing, but I am. I’m damned terrified. We’re betraying the Dark Lord, you realise that, right? What happens if he finds out?”

“Okay for one, I never signed on with him. Two, Inimicus will protect us.”

“You sure about that? He’s never mentioned anything of the sort. And even more so, it’s not me I’m worried about, it’s my family. What if he takes this betrayal out on Sev? Or what if I make things worse on Re if they ever find him? What about Benni?”

“Things can’t get worse for Remus if that happens Blaise, Sev can handle himself, and god I pity anyone who tries to lay a _finger_ on Little Benni considering the people he has looking out for him, us and Harry included. They are cousins, remember? As for protecting us, he hasn’t mentioned it, no. But for god’s sake, we know the guy, we have for years. He’s always been capable of all of this, he just didn’t do it. But he’s still the same person he’s always been, and he’s got a protective streak a mile wide. We’re fine.”

“Even so, maybe we should bring it up with him.” 

Pansy shrugs, “I doubt he’ll take kindly to it but, your funeral.”

“What happened to protecting us?”

“He will protect us from others, he won’t protect us from our own stupid mistakes, like questioning his authority for the 50th time, or bringing into question our loyalty to him or Voldemort.”

Blaise flinches slightly at the name, “And our families?”

Pansy’s shoulder’s drop as she puts down the book she was reading from, “As far as I am concerned, my parents made their choice when they signed on with a mad man.”

“And we haven’t?”

Pansy smiles at him, “Of course we have, and one day, our children may well think the same of us. But we will have made our own decision, like they will, like our parents did. It’s no use risking your life if you don’t believe in what you are fighting for.” 

Blaise suddenly remembers a conversation he had with Remus when he realised he had no idea what he was fighting for. His lately bloodthirsty attitude makes more sense, the man he fought a war for died. Blaise would probably want blood too.

“Since when do you want Dumbledore dead _this_ badly to be _this_ fanatical?”

“It’s not about Dumbledore for me, Blaise, it’s about freedom. He wants to teach people that the world isn’t kind, because random shit just happens. But it’s about more than that, it’s about making our own decisions as we navigate our way through that shit. Dumbledore tried to control his life, this is him breaking free, which means it won’t end here. Wherever he ends up, I plan on being right there with him, because I know in my heart, soul, and bones, that it will be exactly where I want and need to be.” 

Blaise nods like he actually gets it now, “I guess I never really looked at the bigger picture.”

“The bigger picture, Blaise, is more than that. It’s that we have an opportunity here for something Voldemort and his followers have never had.”

“And what’s that?”

“A chance to be free of _fear_. That’s what truly leads the Death Eaters and Voldemort, they are afraid of the Dark Lord, and he is afraid of whatever ghosts are haunting him. But Inimicus? He isn’t afraid, which means he is the only one who will prevail. I choose to rise above the fear I have been surrounded by my entire life, and he is the one leading me away from it. So, tell me Blaise, will you live in fear? Or freedom?” 

Blaise looks down at the book in his lap for a moment, “I want freedom, Pans, but I want a freedom of my own making.”

She smiles, “Then help us break free of oppression first, and then go live your life. Or, help us create a new one.”

He nods, “Now that, I can get behind.”

The next day goes basically the same, Hermione and Pansy getting to know each other, though this time they engage the others at the Gryffindor table (Neville and Lavender) in their conversation as well. That night, Hermione surrounds herself with books in her dorm as Pansy and Blaise sneak back into the restricted section and look at more of the books.

“So, you and Granger are getting close,” Blaise randomly says an hour after they get there, so about 1am.

“It’s Willows, and yes, we are. She’s actually really cool when you get to know her.”

Blaise snorts, “I’ll take your word for it.” 

Pansy looks at him, an idea forming in her head, “Maybe you won’t have to.”

“What do you mean?” Pansy doesn’t respond.

Another hour passes in silence.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake, there’s nothing here to get around blood magic. We don’t even know the spell Salazar used,” Blaise speaks up.

Pansy rolls her eyes, “I happen to have actually found something. I mean, nothing that gets us in now, but we may be able to take the spell off all together.”

“How?”

“Well, we need the blood of the heir to Slytherin. The identity of which, Harry must know from 2nd year. They need to be the ones to lift the spell.”

“Not exactly what we were looking for but…better than nothing I suppose.”

Pansy nods, “We’ll keep looking but, this is looking to be our only option.”

“For sure, but, tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, definitely tomorrow night.” They sneak out after putting everything back exactly the way they found it.

The next morning, Pansy rushes into the Great Hall as soon as she wakes up and hurries over to Hermione.

“Mio, Blaise gave me the best idea last night, I mean, he didn’t mean to, but he did,” Pansy says really quickly, Hermione looks dazed for a moment before her brain registers everything that was said.

“Okay, you need to slow down. Seriously, how sleep-deprived are you?”

“Far too much, obviously.”

“What’s the idea?” Hermione asks with a sigh full of fond exasperation as she hands Pansy a coffee, the girl practically inhales it.

“We should throw a Christmas party tomorrow night. Invite everyone,” Pansy tells her quietly.

“What? All eight of us?”

“Why not? We have food, we have a wonderful musician, and we have people in which we can entice Christmas Spirit, all we’re missing is permission!”

“I’m not playing in front of everyone!”

Pansy just looks at her, “You aren’t shy, in fact, if anything, you are _overly_ confident. Being ourselves remember?” 

Hermione smirks, “Right, forgot. Okay, but you’re asking McGonagall.” Pansy smirks back and nods.

The two head over to the teachers table where Severus and Minerva are seated, eating quietly as they watch over the students in their care. Well, Minerva’s eating, Severus is slowing drinking out of a chalice.

“Excuse me, Professors.”

“Yes, Miss Parkinson, can we help you with something?” Pansy takes a deep breath but freezes.

Hermione snickers before taking over, “Yes, Professor, Pansy and I were wondering if we might be able to have a…celebration tomorrow night, for Christmas.”

“A celebration?” McGonagall asks, clearly wise to her clever wording.

“Yes, see, Pansy and I have been talking. With so few people around, staying within house groups isn’t so much an option, but everyone seems hesitant to bridge the gap. We thought, Christmas is something that is not limited to one House, and as such, a celebration in which we can all be ourselves, is the perfect way to break the ice.”

“So, what you’re saying is, we should allow you to throw a party so that you can make friends?” Severus asks pointedly.

Hermione shakes her head, “It’s not about making friends, Professor Snape, it’s about promoting House unity. You know, for the good of the school. How wonderful would it be for everyone to come back to school and have every opportunity to open themselves up to those of other houses without ridicule? We have that chance, Professor, and Pansy and I think this is the best way to do it.” The two teachers exchange looks, Snape not looking happy, but McGonagall seems both impressed and highly amused.

“Well, if it’s for the good of the school…”

“Yes!” Both girls mutter quietly to themselves, McGonagall smiles, even Snape’s lips twitch upward slightly at them. The two rush off, immediately planning everything they need.

“Okay, so, we need to speak with the kitchen house-elves, decorate whichever room we are using-” Pansy starts saying when Hermione interrupts.

“Ballroom?”

“Good one, Mio, okay, so we need to decorate the ballroom, pick some songs for you to play but also sort out another method of music so that you can dance as well-”

“Leave that to me.”

Pansy raises an eyebrow at her friend, “All right then…then we need to pick a dress code, I’m thinking kind of a fancy casual, so still fancy but also a kind of…”

“Casual?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“You’re an idiot,” Hermione tells her, her voice full of fondness, Pansy grins at her. The two abandon the idea of breakfast and immediately head off down the hall.

“Okay, you deal with the food, I’ll deal with the decorating?” Pansy suggests.

Hermione nods, “Announce the party tomorrow morning at breakfast?” The two nod at each other and go their separate ways.

Hermione spends the next two hours working out food with the house-elves, Pansy, meanwhile, has gotten….creative, with decorations. Snape and McGonagall may not appreciate it, but it will look good when she’s finished, she swears.

Hermione heads to the ballroom when she finishes in the kitchen to work out music with Pansy, when she walks in, _everything_ is a mess. There is literally random crap just everywhere.

“I have a vision and it will be glorious!” Pansy informs her when she realises she has company.

“Well, it’s memorable at least.”

“Hey! I’m doing a thing, it’s a thing in progress, respect the thing!”

“Okay, okay. I came in here to talk about music.” Pansy nods, putting down the scissors she’s holding and pushing away what looks to be a curtain from Dumbledore’s office. “Is that–?”

“The less you know the better.”

“Yeah that seems like a good idea.”

“So music, don’t frighten anyone too much. It also can’t be boring. Needs to be upbeat because this is a party, but maybe still melodic enough for partner dancing should anyone strike anyone’s fancy,” Pansy tells her.

Hermione nods, “Obviously we’re looking at a range of styles here, hopefully we’ll get stuff that everyone enjoys. I even happen to know some songs that were around when Professor Snape was a teenager. Not sure that he’ll know them well, but he might recognise it and appreciate the effort.”

“What about McGonagall?”

“I don’t even know when she _was_ a teenager, I mean, how do you ask that?”

“You don’t, move on, hopefully she’ll like some of this.”

“For my plan with the music, I do need to know the song well. Not necessarily how to play it, but I need to know it well. So, if you have any suggestions, let me know now so I can listen to them on repeat before the party.” Pansy looks confused but nods.

Pansy makes a few suggestions before Hermione leaves to sort that out and Pansy goes back to making a mess…err…decorating.

By dinner that night, nearly everything is done. All that is left for the next day is for Hermione to set up her plan for the music.

That night, Pansy and Blaise head back into the library, tonight they finish all the books in the section before sitting in front of the shelf, surrounded by the books.

“How can blood magic be so blasted binding!” Blaise complains.

Pansy tilts her head to the side as something occurs to her, “What if we go on a bear hunt?” Blaise looks at her like she’s an idiot. “Sorry, Muggle book Mio told me about, see they come up to a bunch of obstacles that they can’t get over or under, or in this case, around. So they go through it all. What if instead of trying to bypass it, we find a way to make it let us go through it, incorporate ourselves into the Blood Seal?”

Blaise raises an eyebrow, “There’s nothing in the books, but that may just be possible. Of course, that means experimenting with undocumented magic until we invent a way to do so.”

“Aren’t the teachers always telling us to be ingenuitive and make our own solutions to problems?” Pansy challenges.

Blaise sighs, “This is gonna take a while.”

The two lose track of time as they search the restricted section for references to expanding a spell or altering a charmed object. Ways to change the password for a door to allow entry for another person without knowing the original password. Ways to lessen the power of a spell, Pansy even looks into Transfiguration to find a way to adapt it to magic instead of objects. They search all night and come up with several leads to follow before they put everything back, make a note of useful texts, and head off to breakfast, scheming different ways to test their theories.

“You ready to make the announcement?” Hermione asks Pansy who nods and moves to stand before all the tables, bringing a glass and spoon with her and gathering everyone’s attention with the tapping.

“Hello everyone, seeing as it’s the holiday season and there is surprisingly little to do here with so few people around, Mio and I decided to throw a Christmas Party tonight in the ballroom and we would like you all to come. And seriously, there is no way you have anything better to do, so please do attend. Everything is sorted, just show up around 7pm and look dazzling. That includes you Professor Snape, I’m counting on you to dazzle. Thank you for your attention, we’ll see you tonight!” Pansy tells everyone earning an unimpressed look from Snape and one filled with amusement from McGonagall.

After breakfast, Hermione goes to the ballroom and sees the finished decorations, she has to admit, it really does look good. Pansy had obviously gone the winter wonderland route, and it came out fantastically. Now she grabs several chairs, puts them on the stage, and transfigures them into instruments. (Drums, Piano, a microphone, and a speaker for her guitar which she transfigures into an electric one. She also has bells hanging from stands.) Nodding to herself, she tests out her idea and is proud when it works perfectly.

“So, what do you think?” Pansy asks from behind her.

Hermione turns to see her friend there and smiles brightly at her.

“It’s perfect.”

The rest of the day is relatively boring, Pansy checks in on the house-elves in the kitchen while Hermione practices the songs she wants to do. She’d made sure to throw in a Christmas song between each regular song to keep up appearances for the Professors, though she knows that they know this has nothing to do with Christmas and everything to do with boredom.

Late that afternoon, the castle appears deserted as everyone spends _way_ more time than is necessary deciding what to wear and getting ready.

Finally the time arrives and everyone goes to the ballroom, Hermione arrives first and is pleasantly surprised that, ten minutes later, everyone save for Snape has decided to attend.

“Right then, let’s get this party started!” Hermione announces, getting up on the stage, closing her eyes and feeling her magic seep into the drumsticks on the drums and the gloves she left on top of the piano. Levitating them she prepares to play the instruments, also using magic to give power to the objects run with electricity. That had been hard to work out, Remus had told her how to do so and with some fiddling it finally worked.

First she plays I Got Nerve, the first song Pansy heard her sing. A fun upbeat song that sets the mood for the rest of the party. At first everyone sort of hovers by the food with people they know, then Pansy gets sick of that happening and drags everyone into the middle of the room to dance as a group. Noticing the importance of this party for her, Blaise joins her in badly dancing, prompting the others to as well.

Next, Hermione plays Jingle Bell Rock, during which Snape turns up. 

Pansy sees him and grins, running over, “Professor! You made it! And you look superbly dazzling, I am very proud to be in your House right now,” She tells him, he gives her a look that she knows is his version of an amused smile after growing up around him, she grins and runs back into the group of eight students as they dance around like crazy people.

The more Hermione plays, the more into it people get. Eventually, Hermione plays a slightly slower song, Blaise asks McGonagall to dance. She chuckles but agrees as others partner up to dance as well.

Eventually, Hermione feels the need to dance as well, she places her guitar on a stool on the stage, using magic to keep it playing as with the other instruments, and joins the others on the ‘dance floor’. She still sings, but has the skill to do that, magic the instruments, and dance with Pansy at the same time. They even manage to get Snape to stop frowning after a while. It wasn’t exactly smiling, but he seemed happy to be there.

Everyone laughs when Hermione breaks out ‘Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer’ and then ‘I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas’. Eventually, McGonagall gives the warning that the party must end soon, so Hermione plays the song she and Pansy decided should be the last one. She tells everyone to partner up, she choosing Pansy, Blaise choosing Lavender, Neville choosing Susan, Anthony choosing Mandy, and then, to everyone’s surprise, Snape asks McGonagall to dance which she happily accepts. The moment Jingle Bells starts playing, everyone laughs and slowly, they join in singing. At the end of the song, they are smiling with the intense joy they all feel, even Severus.

They all slowly head off to their dormitories, though not without agreeing to sit together at the Gryffindor table for Breakfast (That means the two of you Professors.). With the adrenalin from the party, it is a while before anyone falls asleep, but for Hermione, she falls asleep smiling.

**Notes:**

So, apologies for the stupid amount of notes on this chapter and that they're here instead of the notes section, it was a whole thing. 

First of all, I want to say that if you are from the southern hemisphere, writing a story based in the north is very difficult. Case in point, the description of Hermione’s clothing being utterly inappropriate for Christmas in the north because it’s in the middle of winter. I forgot this when writing it and was picturing blazing heat like I’m used to over Christmas. So…warming charms. That’s the explanation I’m going with. Mio’s good at warming charms.

**Hermione’s Party Dress** \- [https://www.etsy.com/listing/621066216/vintage-80s-prom-dress-black-satin-lace?source=aw&utm_source=affiliate_window&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=us_location_buyer&utm_term=139687&utm_content=248711&awc=6220_1587451982_4e9db6d006d66eca3b530a0681037bc0](https://www.etsy.com/listing/621066216/vintage-80s-prom-dress-black-satin-lace?source=aw&utm_source=affiliate_window&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=us_location_buyer&utm_term=139687&utm_content=248711&awc=6220_1587451982_4e9db6d006d66eca3b530a0681037bc0) So for Hermione’s dress, I wanted something fun and party-like but it still had to fit with the style she’s finally allowing herself to show off. I found the perfect one when I originally wrote this chapter two or three years ago, but the link no longer works (Glad I checked) so I had to find another one *rolls eyes*. I’m quite happy with this one.

**Pansy’s Dress -**<https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1KWEEPFXXXXXWXFXXq6xXFXXX7/2017-New-Sexy-Dark-Green-Deep-V-Neck-Mermaid-Sequined-Prom-Dresses-Bling-Sparkly-Front-Split.jpg>For Pansy’s, I wanted to have something that showed her status in society, but was also her attempting to tone down the usual glam because it is meant to be ‘fancy casual’ but still had to fit _her_. I just love the idea that this is as casual as Pansy knows how to get.

**Blaise’s suit -**<https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1em9XLXXXXXbTXFXXq6xXFXXX4/Mens-Suits-Wedding-Groom-2017-New-Arrival-Autumn-Men-Bueinss-Suit-Luxury-Vintage-Prom-Party-Printed.jpg>To be perfectly honest, I looked up fancy suits and this was the first thing that showed up and I just fell in love with it, it was perfect. Just imagine it’s green instead of red.

**Snape’s suit –**

<https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1dhD5JVXXXXcHXpXXq6xXFXXXT/Blue-Velvet-One-Button-Tuxedos-Black-Pants-Mens-Suits-for-Wedding-Peaked-Label-High-Quality-Custom.jpg> I was tossing up between this and another, but I really like the thought of Snape just having this dashing velvet blazer in his wardrobe for no apparent reason. In my mind though, it was the blazer he wore to the Potter wedding. Lily had him keep it in case he ever needed to look as dazzling as he did that night (Don’t know if anyone recalls, but she did call him dazzling. Her exact words). Pansy’s words made him think of it and, after much internal debate, he decided that Lily would have thought this the perfect opportunity for him to wear it again.

**Songs Listened to at the party (I may have gotten a little carried away…{Also, I was sixteen when I chose these songs and was apparently revisiting a Hannah Montana phase *shrugs*})**

  * I got Nerve – Hannah Montana
  * Jingle Bell Rock
  * Who Said – Hannah Montana
  * Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
  * What The Hell – Avril Lavigne
  * All I want For Christmas Is You
  * The Edge – Lady GaGa
  * Last Christmas
  * Radioactive – Imagine Dragons
  * Frosty the Snowman
  * Every time We Touch – Cascada
  * Rocking Around The Christmas Tree
  * It’s Time – Imagine Dragons
  * Feliz Navidad
  * Drive By – Train
  * Deck The Halls
  * Carry On – Fun
  * 12 Days Of Christmas
  * Make Some Noise – Hannah Montana
  * Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer
  * Gone, Gone, Gone – Philip Phillips
  * I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas
  * Firework – Katy Perry
  * Let It Snow
  * Life’s What You Make It – Hannah Montana
  * Jingle Bells



**I’ve said on numerous occasions that I’m trying to keep this all historically accurate. I lied. It’s never gonna happen. I’ve given up saying otherwise.**

**Apologies to those it’s important to, it bugs me too, but there it is.**


	12. Life's What You Make It

Chapter 11 – Life’s What You Make It

Note: Chapter Title from Hannah Montana’s song ‘Life’s What You Make It’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_With the adrenalin from the party, it is a while before anyone falls asleep, but for Hermione, she falls asleep smiling._

Now,

As promised, that morning, everyone sat together at the Gryffindor table, but the ease of the night before has vanished and left behind an awkward silence no one is quite sure how to break.

“We don’t really know enough about each other to talk about anything other than school, do we?” Pansy suddenly asks.

“Nope,” Anthony says, everyone else just nods except for the Professors who look to each other, trying to think of a way to help their students along.

“Perhaps that is the place to start then,” Snape suggests, everyone looks at him in confusion, “For instance, if you were all to say what it is you wish to do once you’ve graduated, that may spark a conversation that will develop beyond the confines of school,” He explains.

“Seems as good idea as any, who wants to start?” Blaise asks, everyone looks around at each other before Neville shrugs.

“I suppose I will, everyone who knows me knows anyway. When I graduate, I want to be a teacher. I’m hoping that when Professor Sprout retires or moves on to another job I can take over as Hogwarts’ Herbology Professor.”

“Me too, well, the teacher thing. Except I want to take over from you Professor, whenever you stop working here for whatever reason. Teaching Transfiguration seems really cool to me,” Hermione tells them all, McGonagall smiles at the girl warmly.

“Well, I’m slightly more ambitious I suppose. But my goal, since I was about seven, has been to one day be the Minister For Magic,” Blaise tells them.

“Wow, big goal. Though, you’re good under pressure and you make smart and rational decisions so, you’d be a good fit,” Pansy tells him, the others seem impressed.

“What about you, Pans?” Blaise asks.

She smiles shyly, “I uh, I want to be a healer.”

“That’s a great job, why are you embarrassed by that?” Lavender asks her.

She shrugs, “It’s not exactly what my Mother has in mind for me, Re and Little Benni think I should do it anyway but…I don’t know.”

“Aren’t you the one who told me that school is the perfect opportunity to be yourself without your parents hovering over you? Why should that have to end in school?” Pansy smiles at Hermione, though still seems shy.

“She’s right, you should be whoever you want to be, no matter what your parents say,” Neville tells her, there’s a sad glint in his eye that none can explain, but they also get the feeling that they shouldn’t ask so they move on.

“What do you want to do, Lavender?” Pansy asks, the girl smiles brightly.

“I want to make a brand of magic make-up. I have ideas about spells to perform on it so that it does what you want, but the problem is there is rigorous testing of magic products like that before they can be released to people. It’s hard to make them exactly as I need them to be so I’m starting now, hopefully when I graduate I’ll have it finished and can get it into production.”

Hermione’s face lights up, “Wow, that’s really cool. If you need any help with charming it, I might be able to? I may not have any experience with magic make-up, but I know charms and I know make-up.”

“You don’t use magic to do that?” Lavender asks, pointing at Hermione’s face.

Hermione laughs and shakes her head, “No, just years of practice, I can teach you if you want? Though, probably a different colour scheme and maybe a tad less intense…” Everyone chuckles at that, now picturing Lavender with borderline gothic make-up.

“Probably a good call on that, but I’d really like that.”

“Mandy, what do you want to do when you finish here?” Pansy asks when they fall into silence again.

“I want to be an Auror, I’m good with DADA, and everything that Harry taught us last year seemed to come pretty easily to me. It got me looking into options and, I don’t know, I read about being an Auror and just knew that that is what I want to do,” Mandy replies, Hermione smiles at her, thinking it a good idea.

“I remember you in D.A. last year, you really were good at it,” Neville tells her, she blushes and thanks him.

“Anthony?” Lavender asks.

He chuckles, awkwardly scratching the back of his head, “I want to be a reporter. Ever since Fudge used the Prophet to make Harry seem like he was lying about…you-know-who, well it got me thinking about how powerful having a voice can be. I thought if you can make people doubt _Harry Potter_ , imagine what you could do with the truth.”

“That is brilliant,” Hermione says, laughing, “Oh, I don’t know why but I love that so much,” She tells him, he laughs with her though neither really know why.

“That just leaves Susan,” Anthony says, they all look to the girl in question.

“Okay first, it’s Suse, I really hate the name Susan. Anyway, I don’t really know what I want to do. All I do know is that I want to have kids, have a family, and be a really big part of those kids’ lives.”

“You could be a house-wife?” Hermione suggests.

Susan grimaces, “I would really love to do that, I mean I’m one of those weird people that actually _likes_ cleaning, but I don’t know how well I would deal with the judgement I’d get from everyone for actually aspiring to that.”

Blaise shrugs, “I don’t think there is anything wrong with knowing what you want to do with your life and doing it. So long as you remember that you made the choice, no one made it for you, the comments and looks should just be background noise, and the support of your friends can be at the forefront of your mind.”

“What if my friends don’t support me?”

Hermione smiles at her, “Well, now you have us for that.”

Suse looks hesitant at that before nodding and smiling, “Yeah, I guess I do.”

“Speaking of being who we are and such, Hermione, can I ask, why the glamour?” Anthony asks.

Hermione blushes, ducking her head slightly, “I grew up in the muggle foster system, I don’t know if any of you know about it, but it isn’t good. I went through a lot of bad homes and schools. After I found out about magic, I thought a great way to show the Grangers that I wanted to stay and be a part of their family was to use my new ‘gift’ to look like I really was. They told me it wasn’t necessary, but it wasn’t just about that. Kids had always teased me for my situation and I could never hide it because I just look nothing like whoever I was living with, coming to Hogwarts gave me a chance, if I changed my looks, no one would ever have to know, and no one would be able to mock me for it. Of course, a few years in I knew no one would or they’d be dealing with a very unhappy Harry Potter which is just not something anyone wants to see, but by that point I could hardly just drop it and continue on. So, a Granger I continued to look to be, even after moving to a different home again.” 

Her explanation is met with silence for a while before Blaise speaks up, “Well that is a pile of suck.”

Everyone looks at him before they start laughing, even Snape and McGonagall chuckle.

“Um, Hermione?”

“Yeah Nev?”

“You know our Charms class?”

“I am familiar with it, yes.”

“Well, Professor Flitwick told me a week before school ended that we’d be looking at a spell, one that showed your family tree, and that it’s a compulsory part of the curriculum.” Everyone shifts their gazes to Hermione who has frozen in place.

“No way around that?” Hermione asks slowly, voice an octave or two too high.

McGonagall shakes her head pensively, “No, although no one but you and Professor Flitwick has to see it.”

“But _I_ _’_ _m_ the one I don’t want to see it!” She tells them, they all go quiet for a while.

“You will still have to do it in class, but would it be better if you performed the spell now in front of us and knew what you would see before having to do it under pressure?” Snape asks, everyone seems surprised by his words but look questioningly to Hermione who nods slowly.

“I guess, if I have to do it, I’d rather find out now than when I have no one around. Though I have to tell you, I’m not sure Harry will react well to this either, he doesn’t exactly like being confronted with a family he can never have.” Hermione doesn’t add that Harry knows exactly what he will see but maybe won’t want other people to. After all, the rest of the world still thinks his Dad is a murderer, and how will the public react to finding out that the famous Harry Potter is _not_ the child of Lily and James Potter, but of _Sirius Black_.

“A lot of people are in the same position in your year. It’s never truly been a problem before but, in all harsh honesty, yours is the generation of children whose parents fought in the war. As such, yours is the generation of people who lost parents or whose parents ended up in bad circumstances,” McGonagall tells them, the students all look at each other, that thought hadn’t occurred to most of them. Though Neville can’t help but think, for people like he and Harry, it never really stops occurring to them. 

Severus feels panic stirring within him, everything will crumble around Harry after that spell. “Perhaps one of us should speak to Professor Dumbledore about this being a requirement. It won’t help this year, but there are always people in situations who would prefer not to perform this spell,” Snape suggests, McGonagall nods. “I’ll grab some parchment so that Miss Willows can do this, would anyone else like to do it with us first?” Everyone shakes their heads, choosing instead to crowd around Hermione in support. While gone, Severus takes a moment to calm himself, taking a few deep breaths and pushing the flooding memories out of his mind.

After preparing himself for the inevitable questions Hermione will have, he soon returns with parchment and a pin.

“All right, all you have to do is prick your finger with the pin, drop a few drops of blood onto the page, say the words Arbor Familae as you tap the page with your wand, and it will form your family tree going back five generations,” McGonagall explains, Pansy and Blaise exchange looks.

“Blood Magic? You’re teaching us Blood Magic?” Blaise asks concerned.

“A harmless spell, I assure you.”

“If you have to bleed to make it work, it is clearly not harmless!” Pansy declares, knowing all too well what Blood Magic is capable of after the research of the last few days.

“Out of curiosity, if you want to show more than five generations, can you alter the spell somehow?” Blaise asks the Professors.

“You can increase the strength of the spell to span further over your ancestry, yes.”

“How?”

“A general increase in power will do it but doing so with Blood magic can be tricky. It very quickly destabilises, and you lose control of the spell. In this, that will merely mean it does not work or it shows far more than you intended. Other forms of magic can be very dangerous when out of your control, Blood Magic especially,” Snape replies, Blaise nods as though his question was answered.

“All right then, here goes,” Hermione says, pricking her finger and dropping three drops of blood onto the page below, “Arbor Familae,” She says, tapping the page with her wand.

“Where were you even keeping that?” Pansy asks, Hermione rolls her eyes, about to respond when the spell begins to work. As the family tree takes shape, Hermione’s eyes widen almost comically. Everyone looks down at the sheet and adopts the same expression.

“This spell can make mistakes if performed incorrectly, right?” Neville asks nervously.

McGonagall nods, “Theoretically, yes. However, this is no mistake.” Everyone looks to Hermione who notices something written to the side of the tree and leans in closer to read it, everyone following her line of sight except for Severus who is merely waiting for the inevitable outburst. She turns to face him quickly, followed by everyone else.

“You’re my God-Father.” 

“I am,” He replies calmly.

“And my father is…” She says, looking back at the page, unable to believe what she knows, “Lucius Malfoy.”

“Your Father, yes. But he’s not your Dad and…he doesn’t know you exist,” Severus explains awkwardly, everyone gapes at him.

“Okay, let’s start from the beginning. What happened to my parents?” Hermione asks, everyone sitting back down around the table. Snape takes a moment to compose himself before sitting down as well.

“Wait, who’s your Mother?” Blaise asks.

Hermione checks the sheet, eyes widening again, “Holy shit,” She says, everyone looks over it again.

“Well damn, who the hell is Delilah Potter?” Pansy questions as Hermione stares rather numbly, everyone turns back to Snape who clears his throat.

“So, um…”

“Explanation,” Hermione tells him.

He nods, “Right. Well your Mother, Del, had been inseparable with a boy since they met on her first day of Hogwarts, his name was Tom. Tom…had some issues as they got older, and eventually became dangerous. Your Uncle got your Mother and older brother, Harrison, away from him, but she was very heart-broken. She and Lucius ran into each other a year later and…uh…grieved?” He says awkwardly. Blaise facepalms, McGonagall sighs, and everyone else laughs at his wording save for Hermione who listens with rapt attention. “By the time she found out she was pregnant again, she had entered into a fledgling relationship with her Brother’s best friend, Sirius Black. The two were married by the time you were born. She decided, both for your safety and for his, not to tell Lucius about you. Sirius adopted both you and your brother, and so you became his kids.”

“Then why didn’t my Mum and Dad raise me?” She asks, looking lost and heartbroken, then it clicks. “Godric’s Hollow. Voldemort’s attack.”

Severus looks to his lap before looking back at her and nodding, he looks as heartbroken as she does.

“Your Aunt and Uncle were hiding there with your brother while your Dad was trying to find Voldemort and stop him before he found them. Only they were betrayed and he did find them. I don’t know exactly what happened, but by the time I got there, your Aunt and Uncle were both… um, and Harry was crying in his cot, and Voldemort was dead on the ground. Sort of. Clearly not as dead as I thought he had been anyway. I had left you with Remus, when I went to get you, you were gone and he was beside himself.”

“How could I have just been gone?” Hermione asks him.

He seems to grow angry for a moment before calming himself, “Dumbledore had taken it upon himself to hide you away, ensure your safety should Voldemort ever return. Your other Godfather and I looked for you but, we never had any clue where to search. Black was sent to Azkaban, Harry to the Dursleys, and Pettigrew disappeared.”

“What about my Mother, what happened to her?”

At this, Snape looks rather uncomfortable, “That’s…complicated.” Hermione raises an eyebrow at him. “She’s in a Muggle Prison.”

“What?!” Everyone asks.

“It’s complicated. She refused to give us a reason why she was still there well past her release date, I went and visited her, many times, to ask but…she just said it was the best thing she could do for her children to not say anything. Even Jamie couldn’t convince her Aunt to help herself, and Del had been wrapped around Jamie’s finger when she was a little girl.” Everyone seems confused.

“The tree said that Professor Lupin, or former Professor or whatever, is your other Godfather, right?” Anthony asks Hermione who nods after checking, “He might know more now. Is he still anywhere nearby?” 

McGonagall nods, “He decided to stay in Hogsmeade to be closer to his son and something about being closer to Harry, as well. He didn’t seem to think Mr Potter was taking the events of the summer very well.”

“Oh my god, Sirius was my Dad,” Hermione suddenly says, “I watched him die.” Pansy wraps her arms around Hermione. Everyone else but the two Professors, Neville, and Blaise look confused by that statement.

“Department of Mysteries, right?” Anthony asks.

Hermione sighs, “There’s no such thing.”

“I’m taking that as a yes.”

“Oh and this is why Remus always called me Granger, never Hermione,” Hermione says, thinking back, then frowns, “But he does now-…he recognised me…after the glamour fell, he recognised me,” She realises, “So did you,” She says to Severus who hesitates a moment before slowly nodding. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because you have a family with the Willows. What would you want with a bitter old potions master?” Hermione frowns, Severus smiles lightly, “You might not have been there long but you seem happy there, Hermione. It’s my job to make sure you stay that way. God-Father duties.”

“I’m an angsty teenaged foster kid turned nerdy goody-two-shoes, I’m no better an option. But family is family, Professor. No matter your faults. And I fully intend to tell Remus that when he inevitably goes off on some anti-werewolf tirade of how he doesn’t deserve it and he’s a monster and all that jazz,” She states, Severus smirks, nodding.

“Professor Lupin thinks that?” Lavender asks, looking deeply upset about that.

Severus seems resigned as he shrugs, “If the entire world feared and hated you, if everyone wanted you dead, if the whole of the wizarding world kept shouting at you that you are a monster…well how long would it take you to start believing it? Start feeling the fear and the hatred too?”

“And if he starts feeling the wishing he was dead part as well?” Anthony asks in a small voice that tells people he has some connection to the subject, though what they don’t know, only that they should tread carefully.

“Pretty sure we’re decades past that point,” Blaise says. Apparently he didn’t get the tread carefully memo. They all stew on that for a while, unsure what conclusion they are trying to reach.

“Why does everyone think Harry’s parents are James and Lily Potter? It says quite clearly that his parents are Delilah Potter and Tom Riddle, adoptive father Sirius Black,” Neville questions eventually.

Severus sighs, “Del suggested the lie, to help throw Tom off the scent should he try to find her. That and then her son would not be subject to the ridicule sure to follow him for who his father is. Of course, his identity never became public knowledge so it would not have made a difference.”

“Because Tom Riddle is Lord Voldemort,” Hermione says, Snape nods. Everyone’s surprised to hear it said so plainly, but most had put that together based on what had been said.

“That means Harry’s Father tried to kill him, more than once,” Mandy realises.

Lavender speaks up, “Plus, whatever happened when Cedric died. I mean, did he ever really tell anyone?” They all look to Hermione who shakes her head.

“He wouldn’t talk about it.”

“He uh, he did tell me. But with the understanding that I not tell anyone,” Neville admits, though he has no intention of spilling Harry’s secrets, nor do the others intend to ask him to. The knowledge that someone knows comforts them all as Neville had known it would. “I just realised Draco Malfoy is your half-brother, so is Harry. How awkward would birthday parties have been if you had all grown up with your parents.” Everyone chuckles over that for a while.

“Oh um…also you should probably be aware that…well…Harry knows his parents are Del and Sirius Black,” Hermione awkwardly states.

Severus’ eyes widen, then narrow, “Jamie?” Hermione nods, he huffs, “Adult or no, she is _so_ grounded.” Again they all chuckle, it never ceases to surprise anyone when Severus sounds like a domestic Father.

“Does this mean that their Dad is the one who betrayed them and told you-know-who where they were?” Suse asks.

Hermione shook her head, “Sirius wasn’t the one who told Voldemort, Peter Pettigrew did.”

“Are you sure?” Pansy asks, Hermione nods. “Then we should prove it. Clear his name. He deserves better than being remembered for that.”

“How would we do that?” Lavender asks.

Blaise smirks, “Harry.”

“What?”

“We use Harry. He may not be able to access it because it was so long ago, but everything that went down still happened right in front of him, the memory is still there. If we can use a Pensieve to show the memory in court, we may be able to get a different ruling.”

“It’ll probably help to point out that Sirius never got a trial to begin with,” Neville adds.

“That is so unethical,” Pansy mutters, Hermione squeezes her hand, she smiles at her.

“Pity Pettigrew is dead, otherwise he could have actually been arrested. They would be far more likely to rule Mr Black as innocent if they had a guilty person to charge,” Minerva says, surprising everyone. 

Hermione and Severus exchange looks, managing a silent conversation despite never having tried it before. In the end they nod to each other.

“He’s alive,” They both say earning bewildered looks.

“He escaped in his Animagus form, lived as the Weasley’s family rat Scabbers until Sirius escaped Azkaban. They nearly turned him in, but they lost him.” Everyone falls silent.

“Then we find him again,” Blaise decides, Pansy looks at him in surprise, he smiles slyly at her and she realises his effort in this is his way of proving allegiance to Harry which convinces her to help.

“Great, how?”

“Hadn’t got that far yet.”

“Again, Not-Quite-Professor-But-Still-Professor Lupin may know something,” Anthony says.

Hermione nods, coming to a decision, “I want to go to Hogsmeade and talk to him. About everything.” Snape and McGonagall exchange looks before nodding.

“I shall accompany you,” Severus tells her, she nods her assent. The two decide to leave immediately, Hermione bringing the family tree with her.

After they leave, Pansy nods her head towards the hallway while looking at Blaise who nods, the two leave and head to speak privately.

“We need to tell him about all of this,” Pansy says.

Blaise nods, “It’s going to have to wait until he returns. We can’t risk this in a letter.”

“Agreed.” Blaise begins to walk away when Pansy calls out, “Blaise.”

“Yeah, Pans?”

“Glad you’re on board.”

He grins, nothing else really needed to be said.

Severus and Hermione journey to Hogsmeade in the snow and quickly make their way to the house of Remus Lupin, knocking on the door without hesitation.

“Severus, Hermione. What a surprise, um come on in,” He says as he opens the door and sees them there.

“Thank you, Professor,” Hermione says.

He smiles kindly, “I’m not your Professor anymore, Hermione, you can call Remus.” She smiles.

“If ever there were a better segue,” Snape mutters, Remus raises an eyebrow at him, Hermione puts the family tree out flat in front of him on a coffee table in response. 

He seems confused but looks it over, understanding quickly dawning on his face.

“Ah, yes, I understand now.”

“Well, you’re doing better than I did then,” Hermione tells him, he smiles, though he does seem to be unhappy. “What’s wrong?” She asks, past experience making her wary of him perhaps not wanting her to be his goddaughter.

“Nothing, really.” Snape looks at him expectantly, as does Hermione. “You look a lot like your Father when you do that,” He tells her, though it’s clearly not what he had been about to say.

“Thank you?”

“I owe you an apology, both of you.” Hermione relaxes. “Oh Hermione, I promise you I am not at all upset that you are my goddaughter, I just wish I had known sooner, wish that you weren’t put in the Muggle world to begin with, and so many other things.”

“It’s a lot to take in,” Hermione says, as the three take a seat.

“Why do you owe us an apology?” Severus asks.

Remus sighs, “Because I’ve known who you are since I arrived back in Hogwarts weeks ago.” The two don’t seem shocked. “I should have said something, but there’s a lot going on right now, a lot of variables I had to consider. Things are more complicated than you know.” Neither seem satisfied with this, in fact they both look quite annoyed, but he says nothing more. Severus supposes he can’t be too upset, after all, he mentioned nothing to Remus either.

Suddenly they hear a door open and look up to see Benni walk into the room, his face lights up as he runs over to his Papa. Severus smiles happily as he hugs his Son close, glad that he’s with Remus again. Well, mostly glad. He knows Remus is perfectly capable of looking after their Son no matter how inebriated he is, but that doesn’t mean it’s a great situation for Benoit to be in. Then again, after months of nothing, Benoit is probably just relieved to have his Père back at all.

“We came here for more than just filling you in on this. See, those of us that stayed behind over holidays were talking after the family tree was done. One thing led to another and we have two questions for you,” Hermione eventually tells him after greeting Benoit with a hug of her own.

“Only two?” Remus asks.

Hermione chuckles slightly, “What do you know about why my Mother was arrested?”

Remus sighs, “As much as Severus, we were both there when she was arrested but she’s been kept in past her release date by over a decade. I’ve asked numerous times over the years, but she still won’t talk. She’s convinced she’s protecting you and Harry. Perhaps if she knew you were both here now, she might tell me. I doubt it though, she’s kept her silence for sixteen years. Wouldn’t even tell your Dad.” 

Hermione and Snape share a sigh, then Severus’ head snaps up.

“When did Sirius see her?” He all but demands to know.

Remus bites his lip awkwardly, “I broke a bunch of laws and it’s best you don’t know.”

Severus holds eye contact with him for a moment before nodding. “Our other question is in regards to Peter Pettigrew,” Severus warns the man, Remus tenses up, getting up and walking the length of the room. He grabs a half-empty glass from the coffee table before stopping in front of the window and drinking it. Benoit sighs at the action, shrugging at his Papa. He waves to Hermione before trudging back to his room, looking downtrodden. Severus decides that, at some point when there’s time, he’s doing something about Remus’ drinking problem, if the man wants to or not. Severus inwardly chuckles, _When there_ _’_ _s time_ , he thinks, _like we_ _’_ _ll ever make it through this intact enough for it to matter._

“I don’t know what you expect me to say about him, or what question you could possibly have, but I seriously doubt I can help you,” He says shortly, Severus takes in Hermione’s tenseness before addressing his ex-husband again.

“I understand how difficult a topic this is for you, and don’t jump down my throat because he may not have been as close to me as you, but he was my friend too, and I lost just as much as you did, so yes, I do understand. We may have an idea that can help prove his guilt and Sirius’ innocence, so please, come and sit down and let us talk.” Remus pulls back the comment he almost said and nods, realising Severus is making an effort. He takes his seat, attempting to be more open with them again as he sets the glass back down. He prepares himself to watch what he says carefully, they mustn’t find out about Bridget or Rema.

“Okay, so, we were wondering if you had any ideas where he might be, or how to track him down?” Hermione asks him, to both of their surprises, he nods.

“He’s working for Voldemort. He’s the one who brought the man back.” Both look shocked.

“How do you know this?” Severus asks suspiciously.

Remus shifts slightly, “Harry told Sirius, Sirius told me.”

“Do you want to try that again with a bit of conviction?” Remus glares at Snape.

“Bringing us back to topic, do you, by chance, have proof of that?” Hermione asks him.

Remus looks to be considering the question for a moment, “No, but, Harry does.”

“What are you talking about?” Severus heatedly demands, growing angry that this, of all things, is part of what Remus is keeping from him. They have always been open with each other about Lily and James’ death, about all of that. Or at least, Severus has been.

“His memories, Sev, his memories of Voldemort being brought back. Of course that leaves you with the obvious problem of getting him to actually do it.”

“Surely if it clears Sirius’ name he’ll do it,” Hermione says.

Remus shakes his head, “Harry does not wish anyone to know what happened in that graveyard and I shudder to think why. To do this would mean, not only would those at the trial see it, but it would be on record, and more importantly, he would have to relive it. Harry also tends to be a rather practical person, and at the end of it, Sirius is dead, Harry is alive. Harry is the one that has to live with the consequences of this, not Sirius, and I’m not sure he’d be willing to.” Remus looks down at his hands, folded in his lap as he tries to push away the tide of grief once more. Neither of his guests are particularly surprised when he quickly drains his glass and gets up to pour himself another. All three grow silent before Hermione gets a determined look on her face.

“Sirius Black was with my Mother throughout her pregnancy with me, adopted Harry and me as his own, and raised me for however long I was alive before the attack. He is my Dad, and I will not allow my Dad’s memory to continue being shit on like this. He is innocent, and I will prove that, and Harry is damn well going to help me do it.”

“Then I think you had best talk to Harry.”

After the two leave, Remus leans his head against the closed door, wondering yet again if he is doing the right thing by helping Harry be Inimicus.

“Oh Sirius, I wish you were here. I keep wondering if this is what you would have wanted, I can’t help but think how disappointed you would be, how disappointed Del would be. 

But you aren’t here, neither of you are. I have to do what I think is best and damn it all, but I can’t allow Dumbledore to get away with this, not when I’ve just got them back. He has taken far too much from me already.

I’m sorry, Sirius, I’m so sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly unrelated but, Uni is a bucket full of stress. Which isn’t unrelated because it’s making updates be a little more every couple of days rather than every day. I keep running out of hours because there’s so much to do coming to the end of semester.
> 
> Anyways, doing my best. Hope you’re all enjoying the story!


	13. I'd Come For You

Chapter 12 – I’d Come For You

Note: Chapter Title from Nickelback’s song ‘I’d Come For You’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I also do not own ‘Secrets’, that belongs to Maria Mena.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“…_ _He is my Dad, and I will not allow my Dad_ _’_ _s memory to continue being shit on like this. He is innocent, and I will prove that, and Harry is damn well going to help me do it._ _”_

_“_ _Then I think you had best talk to Harry._ _”_

Now,

Back at the castle, Hermione and Severus head into the Great Hall, Lunch having already started. Hermione is happy to see everyone sitting at the Gryffindor table again, including McGonagall.

“Hey, how’d it go?” Pansy asks, getting up and rushing forward to hug Hermione, a hug gratefully returned.

“Well the obvious answer that, despite having just thought of it, none of us thought of.”

“Are we supposed to know what that means?” Blaise asks.

Snape chuckles, “In fairness, we did not have all the information. Apparently, the damn rat was the one who brought you-know-who back to life. We can use Harry’s memories of that to prove it.”

“The problem is, it happened when Cedric died, which means Harry won’t want to talk about it,” Hermione adds, they all sigh.

“Two steps forward, one step back,” Neville says, none can disagree.

“There’s another problem actually, Harry doesn’t know who his birth-Father is,” Mandy reminds them.

Hermione shrugs, “So I’ll tell him.”

“Mio, you’ll be telling him that Lord Voldemort, The Dark Lord, the one whose name is so feared most won’t dare to speak it, is his father. The same man who killed his Aunt and Uncle, the people he’s been raised believing are his parents, the man who killed Cedric, who tried to kill _him_. How worth it is this, really? We all want Sirius’ name cleared but consider the cost here. Is it worth Potter’s soul?” Blaise asks not even realising what he’d called her. He knows, of course, that Harry is already aware of the truth, but that isn’t what this is about. This is about them not knowing that and still being willing to do this. They need to start thinking of the consequences of their actions and being sure they can live with them.

“He’s going to find out anyway, core component, remember? It is a far better idea that he find out in a controlled environment, well aware of what he will learn, than find that out in Charms class.” Everyone agrees with this. “Right then, when he gets back, I’ll tell him.” Severus looks around the group and is hit by a sudden familiarity. These are the people, this is the group, a vision he had during an Order meeting many years ago, it’s them. Sometime before the holidays are up, his vision will come true.

“In the meantime, now that we’re on the subject of Harry Potter. Anyone else think he and Dray should just snog already?” Pansy pipes up as she, Hermione, and Severus take a seat, everyone bursts into startled laughter as the students nod and the teachers regret life whilst internally laughing.

“Oh my god, yes! That would solve so many problems,” Hermione says.

“Would have solved more had they done it three years ago,” Blaise adds causing more laughter. 

“I did not need that image of two of my god-children,” Severus complains, the kids snicker. They chat about random bits of gossip for a while, as teenagers do, McGonagall and Snape happy to listen to it if it means this generation of students actually get to be kids for once.

“Why do the Houses never interact like this? I mean we’re all just people and apparently we get along fine,” Anthony wonders.

Blaise shrugs, “Prejudice, rumours, expectations.”

“Hit the nail on the head right there. It’s stupid, pathetic really, but it’s how it is. Stereotypically Slytherins are obnoxious purebloods. Gryffindors are stupid and reckless, Ravenclaws care more about books than people and are stuck up know-it-alls, and Hufflepuffs are nature-loving hippies that just kind of exist,” Hermione explains.

Suse snorts, “I take offence to that characterisation of Hufflepuffs, I am not a hippie, and I happen to hate dirt.” They all laugh at that.

“Remus used to tell me and the others frequently, particularly after we got our letters, that people are more than just their Hogwarts house. I never really understood what he meant, in fact, I think I still don’t, not fully,” Blaise tells them, they all look thoughtful as they ponder the words.

“Honestly though, it’s the rivalry and distrust and hatred between Gryffindor and Slytherin that’s the problem. You guys are examples of that, or have been in the past,” Mandy reminds them. Pansy, Blaise, and Hermione tend to agree with that.

“I would have had no problem with Slytherins if it weren’t for Malfoy,” Hermione tells them, “It just sort of escalated from him, to his friends, and then the whole House.”

“Prejudice,” Blaise says.

Hermione glares, “Which never would have happened if Malfoy hadn’t been prejudiced to me by going on about me being a mudblood, kind of ironic that I end up being his sister.”

“In Dray’s defence, you did keep challenging him, obviously he was going to respond to that,” Pansy adds.

Hermione’s eyes narrow, “I only did because he kept picking on my friends. I was trying to stand up for my friends.”

“Draco only kept doing that because Potter did it to him as well.” The two stop arguing long enough to notice everyone sitting in awkward silence.

“So what you’re saying is, the only real rivalry problem around, is Potter and Malfoy, and the animosity keeps spreading between their Houses,” Susan asks, the two look at each other, then to Blaise, then nod. “We should just lock them in a closet together until they sort their shit out.”

“Oooh, can we?” Pansy asks, mischief in her eyes.

“No, Miss Parkinson, we cannot,” McGonagall instructs her sternly, Pansy pouts. “Besides, if you want the current status quo of Houses to change, you need to be the ones to do it. Force them into a position where they have no choice but to get along.” Everyone considers how to do this for a while.

“It may help you to know that there is no rule saying students must sit within their houses at meal times any time other than the sorting feast,” Severus casually mentions as he drinks a cup of his nutrition potion, though the students, apart from Blaise and Pansy, have no idea that’s what it is.

“Hmmm.”

“Why do the old pureblood families hate muggle-borns anyway?” Hermione asks, it being something she’s accepted as true but never really understood.

“Blood purity. Supposedly purebloods are more powerful, and that the more mudbloods and blood traitors continue breeding, the more diluted the wizarding gene will become until wizards are as powerless as muggles,” Blaise explains, “It’s rubbish of course, the only thing keeping purebloods with purebloods is gonna do is promote inbreeding which just won’t end well for anyone and really _will_ make wizards die out. Simple biology there.”

“Not necessarily true, see wizards can repair most abnormalities and disabilities in the womb, there’s little risk of that sort of thing. Of course, there’s no proof that it actually makes a difference to one’s magical strength but inbreeding itself isn’t as big a problem as people would think,” Severus tells them, they look thoughtful but also confused, “I’ve watched Remus have this discussion more than a few times with people.” No one’s surprised by that.

“Not to mention three of the five most powerful people I can think of are half-bloods,” Pansy adds earning her questioning looks. “Tom Riddle, on the family tree it has his parents, and a little icon denoting blood status, his father was a muggle. That means he’s a half-blood, as is Harry, who is number two. Then there’s Professor Snape, powerful and very scary when he wants to be. Three powerful but half-blooded wizards that I would very much not like to get onto the bad side of.” Hermione looks at Snape and nods, agreeing.

“It’s like people’s dislike of werewolves, like that makes them worse wizards, I would be terrified to have to face Not-Professor-But-Always-Professor Lupin in a wizard-duel,” Lavender tells them, they nod.

“A wise decision, it is not fun,” Snape tells them, they look at him in surprise. Severus sighs and looks at Hermione, “I upset your Aunt Lily once when we were kids, he just straight up attacked me. Said something about me being a coward and swine or something, I’m not sure I don’t remember exactly. It was pretty clear at that moment that he was holding back for fear of doing worse. Of course, me being all of eleven at the time decided that if that was him holding back, I had better make it my business to never give him a reason not to.” Everyone laughs along with him at the story, it being very unusual for Severus to open up in such a way. Minerva is quite pleased and makes a mental note to award each of the students present with house points for efforts in inter-house unity and overcoming prejudice in the coming term.

“For the record though, Mio, Draco doesn’t actually have anything against muggle-borns, he was just trying to upset you and knew that that would,” Blaise tells her.

She nods, “And his thoughts on the Weasleys?” She asks curiously with the barest amount of heat.

“Influenced by his Father, though he has a tremendous amount of respect for the Weaslette. According to him, she’s the only decent witch or wizard in the family,” Pansy answers, everyone seems surprised by this, she just shrugs, “Of course, there’s also the matter of muggle-born’s parents. Obviously, they find out about the wizarding world and that’s a huge security risk. It’s always been borderline on whether or not the existence of muggle-borns breaks the secrecy act or not, at least, that’s what my parents say.”

“The problem there is the intake method of the school, there’s got to be a better way to go about it that limits the involvement of the muggle parents in our world,” Hermione says.

“You’re the only one here who was raised with muggles, what could be done differently?” Lavender asks her.

Hermione bites her lip as she thinks about it, “Well, for starters, just because they have to know our world exists doesn’t mean they should ever have to enter it. If someone were sent to take the Muggle-borns or muggle-raised to Diagon Alley to get their books and such for school, the parents would never know anymore about wizards than the fact that they exist.”

“We get a lot of muggle-borns though, Miss Willows, we don’t have enough staff to have a teacher for each,” McGonagall points out.

“Yes, but it doesn’t have to be a teacher, and it doesn’t have to be one each. What you should do is set up a rotation system for the parents of students within the school. Two or three groups of muggle-borns, one or two parents per group. They get taken in to Diagon Alley to get their stuff, meanwhile the children of the parents can chat with them about the school and being a wizard and that kind of thing.”

“That’s…actually a pretty solid idea,” Mandy comments, surprised. The two Professors look impressed.

“That and there should be some kind of check into the families of students. Ensuring the child remains safe during this transition. Some people’s parents don’t react well to the news that their child is a wizard, some don’t treat them well to begin with.”

“That’s what child protection laws are for,” Severus tells her, not that they did him any good. Or any of the Blacks. Or Lucius. _Okay perhaps an update_ is _in order,_ He thinks.

“Yes, but that only works so long as it gets reported.”

“What do you mean?” McGonagall asks, now concerned for the safety of her students.

Hermione debates what to say, “Just that…sometimes those reports are blocked or shot down before they get that far. You need someone unbiased, and not employed by the school, to see the home life. Someone from child protective services should go to the houses of muggle-borns to check in.”

“Okay, enough of the depressing topics, let’s talk about something lighter,” Neville suggests, everyone agrees though Minerva continues looking uncertain.

“Best pranks so far this year?” Anthony asks, all the Gryffindors groan, McGonagall included.

“Well this looks interesting, what happened?” Snape asks.

“Oh nothing yet, that’s how we know it’s going to be big, complicated, and difficult to fix,” McGonagall explains with a tired look like she’s already fucking done with it even though it hasn’t even happened yet.

“The Weasley twins may have graduated, but they haven’t been Gryffindors biggest problem in years,” Hermione tells them all.

“Then who is?”

“Harry. Fucking. Potter,” Hermione and Lavender say at the same time.

“Little known fact about Harry Potter, he really loves messing with people,” Neville informs them, bringing out incredulous laughs and/or smiles.

“Most people have hobbies, Mio likes music, I like beauty, Neville likes gardening. Harry, he likes making people’s lives difficult in stupid little ways, or creative and intricate ways that take ages to fucking fix!” Lavender exclaims, growing louder with each word.

“Sounds like this is a lasting problem then…” Pansy says.

Neville nods, “I don’t know what the hell happened in third year, but ever since then, he’s been a nightmare to live with.”

“How have we not heard about this?” Anthony asks.

Hermione sighs, “At first we thought it was the twins, it wasn’t until halfway through fourth year that I realised stuff happened whenever he’s in a bad mood. It’s his way of coping I guess, so given that everyone kind of hated him for a good few months that year, you can imagine what being in Gryffindor was like. Given the animosity between he and other students at the time, I decided to keep my mouth shut.”

“Yeah, the rest of us didn’t realise until later that school year. One day, I dunno what happened, but Ron and Harry were just walking through the common room when Ron suddenly looked at him and shouted, top of his voice, ‘IT WAS YOU, YOU LITTLE SHIT!’” Neville tells them all causing them all to laugh again.

“The secret was out after that, but that only prompted him being craftier and more inventive with his pranks,” Lavender explains.

“So does anyone know what happened in third year?” Mandy asks.

Hermione makes a face like she kinda does, she kinda doesn’t, “I know that Remus gave him something, Harry mentioned something about the Marauders but I don’t know what it is. For some reason this parting gift is what prompted it all,” Hermione lies, she could hardly _admit_ she knew about the map.

“Son of a bitch!” Snape exclaims as he drops his head to the table, Minerva placing her elbows on the table and covering her face with her hands. “Please tell me we can confiscate it!” Severus asks his colleague pleadingly.

“Severus, believe me, I would if I could. But we do not even know what it is, if I knew that, I’d have taken it from them twenty-five years ago.”

“Taken what from whom?” Pansy asks them.

“Taken whatever the hell they had from the bane of my entire existence.”

“Oh Severus, don’t be so dramatic.”

“You aren’t the one who had to be the butt of all their pranks and jokes.”

“It was a quarter of a century ago, you need to move on.”

“I quite happily would, only apparently, their tips and tricks are haunting me. I should never have come to work here,” Severus tells her.

McGonagall sighs at him, “Honestly Severus, you aren’t a teenager anymore, this behaviour is unbecoming of a Hogwarts Professor.”

“Hogwarts Professor, yes, all I have to do is catch him in the act and I can finally have my answer.”

“Oh, for goodness sake, Severus.” If only she knew that he knows exactly what it is, he’d seen the map after all, but like hell would he admit it. It’s far more amusing to mess with Minnie, _Perhaps I spent too much time with that lot after all_ _…_

“Oh my god what is happening right now and can it always happen just forever?” Pansy asks pleadingly.

McGonagall sighs again, “The Marauders were a group of students who started at Hogwarts almost thirty years ago, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They seemed to have made it their mission to prank the entire school, twice. However, no one was targeted as much as their schoolyard rival turned close friend turned nemesis, Severus Snape. The staff knew who was doing it of course, but we could never work out how they managed it and so, we could not stop them.”

“Could have tried harder.”

“Severus.” Snape just rolls his eyes. “It sounds as though Mr Potter has inherited whatever they used to get away with it all, and of that I will be warning Professor Dumbledore and keeping an eye out. Not that I wasn’t watching out for Mr Potter’s pranks before. Severus, given how close you once were to them all, I must question whether or not you _do_ know what it is,” Minerva says, Severus looks at her like she’s an idiot, she raises an eyebrow, he smirks before dropping his head back to the table, she sighs.

“So moving on from that but staying on the subject of hobbies, what do you guys like doing in your spare time?” Mandy asks everyone.

“I like playing music, but at the moment all of my time is going into researching someone. I’m trying to find dirt on a famous figure but I’m getting nowhere,” Hermione tells them, Blaise looks to be considering something for a moment. Severus listens closely, remembering his future-self’s words in his vision. He’d talked about her researching someone, someone who had manipulated Harry’s life, had made her and her brother grow up without their parents, grow up alone. _Oh damn_ _…_ _she_ _’_ _s researching Albus. Oh Re_ will _be proud._ Then Blaise starts talking.

“Well, when Draco was trying to find dirt on Harry, the first thing he did was look at the people around him and the way he acts and reacts rather than reading up on him. For instance, you and Weasley follow him into danger, therefore he promotes loyalty in those around him. He gets you two out of it therefore he has a protective personality. Molly Weasley fusses over him, therefore he is obviously lacking any other maternal figure and she feels the need to step in. When he and Draco fight, Harry is volatile, sometimes violent, suggesting that he’s never been shown a better way to deal with his anger which suggests two possible scenarios for home life, either he’s smothered, or neglected. Given the protective nature and his obvious need to include everyone, plus his inability to stand up to his friends when he disagrees, as shown by his lack of reaction to Weasley upsetting you in first year which I happened to have seen, he would appear to have a rather neglectful home life. His need to prove himself worth anything and twitchiness whenever someone gives something to him as a gift back that hypothesis up. His reaction when you punched Draco in the face, the instinctive flinch away, and his own volatile nature, are conducive to a violent situation at home. His reaction to being brought into the spot light repeatedly suggests that any time focus is on him in other aspects of his life is bad news for him. His tendency to run into life threatening situations suggest a lack of self-preservation skills suggesting no one has ever really cared if he lives or not so he’s never learnt to care for his own safety. He’s severely claustrophobic, and on days when he looks very tired, suggesting nightmares, he often finds an excuse to open a window in class which shows a haunting memory of a small space,” Blaise tells her, her frown deepening with every passing word. “Yeah, Draco can get a little…overly focused.”

“He means obsessive,” Pansy tells them.

“I was being nice.”

“Mr Potter is who you were referring to when we were talking about child protection laws, isn’t he?” McGonagall asks, sounding horrified.

Hermione bites her lip.

“It was a cupboard.”

No one understands. Hermione takes a deep breath. “The haunting small space. It was a cupboard that served as his bedroom for eleven years, whenever he was in trouble they would lock him in the cupboard under the stairs. That is all I will say on the matter,” She tells them, they all look extremely uncomfortable, or in McGonagall’s case, extremely ill.

“Why hasn’t it been reported?” Minerva cannot help but ask.

“Because Dumbledore put him there.” There was a collective gasp around the room save for the two Slytherin students and their teacher.

“Albus must not have known –”

“He knew, Minerva. I warned him what Vernon was like and he didn’t care,” Severus tells her, she looks horrified and in denial.

“Plus the squib he has watching the Dursleys, she’s been reporting the comings and goings of them for his entire life. There’s no way she hasn’t brought that up,” Hermione adds, no one really knows how to react to that.

“And he’s the one that practically kidnapped you as a baby,” Neville speaks up.

“He’s never really seemed to be concerned with the safety of the school, all things considered,” Mandy nervously reminds them.

“This is preposterous!” McGonagall tells them. _And here it comes,_ Severus realises. This being the beginning point of his vision.

“Is it, Professor? Because from what I’m seeing here, he’s manipulated Harry’s entire life. Put him through trial after trial while making sure he remains firmly under his thumb. Pushing him into a position to do whatever he asks of him, to what end, who knows?! But it won’t be safe! It won’t end well for Harry, and it won’t be a decision made with Harry’s well being in mind. Nor a thought to the rest of us that will no doubt be right beside him!” Hermione snaps.

“He’s who you’re researching,” Snape states, quoting himself and wondering if that’s a paradox. Also, he begins panicking. This vision came true as most others have. He’s only ever stopped one from occurring, and it still did partially. How can he hope to stop the coming battle? How can he save Remus? For some reason, and he really doesn’t know why, the only thought that goes through his head is, _Merlin, I wish James were here_. Which seems odd to him, why James? But he can’t get the feeling out of his head that, if he were here, James would make everything better.

“I want to know his motives for interfering in my friend’s life, and in mine. I want to know why he never pushed for my Dad to get a fair trial, why he set a trap for Voldemort within a school, why he didn’t even try to help Remus keep his job. I want to know why I grew up unloved and alone, why my brother grew up the same. I want to know _why_. Why did he make my life turn out this way? Why doesn’t he care that it did?” Everyone remains silent for a while, McGonagall wanting to defend a man she looks up to and has happily worked under for many decades, but finding herself unable to.

They all begin to disperse, still not saying a word. Hermione going back out to the Whomping Willow with her guitar to find her centre.

“ _There_ _’_ _s a room inside your gut  
Close the door and keep it shut  
Let no daylight enter in  
And the punishment begin  
  
Who are you now to decide  
Whether or not I can  
Be exposed to what you hide  
Just be a strong and silent man  
  
But every wrong turn that you make will also be my mistake  
Cause we_ _’_ _re connected through our hearts  
And the devastating part is that I foolishly defended you to myself  
But secrets always have a way of coming out.  
  
I_ _’_ _m beginning now to see  
What you must have thought of me  
In a body cast of glass  
Life-changing information should just pass.  
  
But I don_ _’_ _t break that easily  
And if you_ _’_ _d dare then you would see  
That I_ _’_ _ve been carrying all the weight  
Of the burdens on your plate.  
  
But every wrong turn that you make will also be my mistake  
Cause we_ _’_ _re connected through our hearts  
And the devastating part is that I foolishly defended you to myself  
But secrets always have a way of coming out.  
  
But every wrong turn that you make will also be my mistake  
Cause we_ _’_ _re connected through our hearts_  
And the devastating part is that I foolishly defended you to myself  
But secrets always have a way of coming out.”


	14. Make Some Noise

Chapter 13 – Make Some Noise

Note: Chapter Title from Hannah Montana’s song ‘Make Some Noise’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_They all begin to disperse, still not saying a word. Hermione going back out to the Whomping Willow with her guitar to find her centre._

Now,

By the end of the first week of holidays, everyone is chatting happily once more, though past topics are never far from their minds. They’ve also decided, from advice given by their teachers, that they will spend time studying as well. With two teachers presence, and a wide array of student expertise, they manage to get a lot done during the first three days of the second week of break. So naturally, something had to happen to disrupt the peace. This particular incident came about when Pansy walked into the Slytherin common room and saw Blaise snogging Lavender. She screamed and ran out, heading straight to the library where she was sure to find Hermione.

“OHMYGODMIOYOUWON’TBELIEVEWHATHAPPENEDHOLYSHIT!” She yells as she enters the room, out of breath from her sprint up the stairs.

“What’s going on?” Hermione asks, putting away the book she was reading about Grindelwald.

“I JUST SAW BLAISE AND LAVENDER SNOGGING IN THE SLYTHERIN COMMON ROOM!”

“Oh my…”

“YES, OH MY, AS IN OH MY GOD!”

“It’s kind of adorable, I never would have imagined those two together.”

“WHY ARE YOU BEING CALM?! THIS IS BLAISE AND LAV WE ARE TALKING ABOUT! A GRYFFINDOR AND A SLYTHERIN FOR GOD’S SAKE!”

Hermione rears back like she’d been struck. “Right, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin getting along, how _dare_ they!” Hermione says to her, hurt clear in her voice.

“Wait, Mio, I didn’t mean it like that!”

“Then how did you mean it, Pans? Because there are only so many ways that can be taken.”

“I just meant that sooner rather than later school is going to come back, and what happens then?”

“Oh, so all of this is only temporary? Just a way to relieve the boredom?!”

“NO! Of course not.”

“No, it’s fine, really. But if we won’t be talking anymore once school starts, we should probably just stop now. Wouldn’t want anyone to get the idea we were talking outside of our House groups.”

“Mio! I didn’t mean it like that!”

“SO YOU KEEP SAYING, BUT YOU STILL HAVE NOT ACTUALLY STOPPED SAYING EXACTLY THAT!”

Pansy groans in frustration, this isn’t what she was trying to say at all. “I’M JUST WORRIED ABOUT THE BACKLASH FOR THEM, HOW’S EVERYONE ELSE GOING TO REACT!?”

“YOU’RE THE ONE THAT WAS GOING ON ABOUT HOUSE UNITY AND STUFF, DID ANY OF THIS MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU!?”

“OF COURSE MIO, BUT NONE OF THIS IS GOING TO LAST WHEN EVERYONE ELSE IS BACK BECAUSE THE OTHERS WON’T SEE THINGS THE WAY WE DO.”

“You mean the way the others and I do. Because clearly you don’t see things my way either,” Hermione tells her before she begins to walk out, at the doorway she stops and turns, “I’m really happy for Blaise and Lav, because they are my friends. I hope you can find a way to be as well, even if it is inter-house _contamination_.” Pansy stands in the library, unsure what to do, for all of one minute before she knows something with pure clarity.

“I’m not letting her get away from me,” She says to herself before she runs out of the room. She sees Hermione on a set of stairs, but it’s moved away from her. Tracking the other staircases, she climbs onto one, waits until it’s close enough, and leaps across to the first.

“OH MY GOD, PANSY! Are you okay!? What the hell were you thinking! YOU COULD HAVE DIED!” Hermione yells at her.

“I couldn’t let you leave,” She tells her from where she is leaning against the banister, taking weight off of the ankle she’s hurt.

“Why?”

Instead of answering, Pansy just pulls her closer and kisses her.

“I’m an idiot, I’m sorry. But I really like you, Mio, and I don’t want to lose you just because a bunch of teenagers might disagree. I’m sorry I made you think otherwise.” 

Hermione looks like she’s trying desperately to hold a grudge, but a smile soon breaks out over her face. “You’re lucky I didn’t make it all the way up the stairs, if you’d waited that long I might not have forgiven you.”

Pansy chuckles, “Does that mean I’m forgiven for my brush with death?”

“Not at all, I still can’t believe you jumped from one moving staircase to another!” Pansy shuts her up by kissing her again. Hermione pulls away, “We’re going to see Professor McGonagall and hope she knows how to fix your ankle. And if not, the second Madam Pomphrey gets back, I’m taking you to her.” Pansy huffs and rolls her eyes, but the effect is ruined by the wide smile still on her face.

“Dinner is in ten minutes, can we just go to the Great Hall and wait for McGonagall there?” Pansy asks as she pouts.

Hermione rolls her eyes, “Fine.”

“Professor! Do you know how to heal a sprained ankle?” Hermione asks as Minerva and Severus enter the room, both sigh.

“What happened?” Severus asks as McGonagall takes a seat beside Pansy who has her leg up on the bench and is leaning back against Hermione who has her arms wrapped around her.

“Big romantic gesture went slightly wrong.” Pansy explains.

McGonagall looks at her, eyes filled with amusement as she finishes inspecting the ankle. “There are potions for it in the castle, can you wait until after dinner?”

“Good question, can I Mio?” Pansy asks.

Hermione smiles sweetly, “Are you planning on jumping onto any other _moving freaking staircases_ before then?”

“You did WHAT?!” Blaise yells as he enters the hall along with Lavender who blushes at the sight of Pansy. Anthony, Neville, Susan, and Mandy walk in behind them and take their seats.

“Well I wasn’t just going to let her storm off!”

Blaise shakes his head with a sigh as he sits down on the other side of Hermione, Lavender beside him.

“Congratulations to you both, by the by.”

“Thanks Mio,” Lavender tells her quietly, she smiles.

“I take it congratulations are in order for the two of you as well?” Blaise asks, Hermione and Pansy smile at each other before Hermione nods. “Good, meanwhile, Pansy, please stay away from moving staircases.”

“Excuse me, I seem to recall the first time you were on a staircase when it moved going _far_ worse than this. You fell off the edge and probably would have _died_ if Draco hadn’t caught you.” Hermione laughs at Pansy’s words as Blaise blushes.

“If it helps Mate, first time I was on a moving staircase without a prefect guiding us I straight up screamed,” Anthony tells him, they all laugh.

“I started hyperventilating, I just remember Mio being scarily calm and then I think I passed out,” Neville informs them causing more chuckles.

“I remember that, that wasn’t the first time for me. Believe me, nothing was as frightening as my first time on a moving staircase.”

“What happened?” Mandy asks her.

Hermione smirks, “Well, Harry, Ron, and I were minding our own business, actually I think we were running…why were we running? Oh right, so Harry, Ron, and I were trying to hide from Mr Filch,” Hermione begins explaining, everyone collectively gives a sigh of exasperation. Hermione smiles in amusement as she continues her story, “We ended up on the third floor corridor that had been blocked off to students. We hoped there’d be another way around because we didn’t know how the stairs worked yet and just wanted to get off before it moved again. Anyway, we go up, and I’m not sure why, I think it may have been because we saw Mrs Norris and panicked and tried to hide or something, I don’t know. We opened a door at the end of the corridor, only to find a three-headed dog on the other side.”

“Seriously?” Lavender asks, disbelief in her voice.

Hermione nods, “Fluffy, as it turns out, was Hagrid’s Cerberus. He was the first security measure made to protect the Philosopher’s stone from Voldemort.”

“Why did Hagrid just _happen_ to have a three-headed dog laying around?” Blaise asks.

Hermione shrugs, “He had a hippogriff, why not a Cerberus?”

“Fair point.”

“You know, we knew that Harry had faced off against Voldemort, but we never actually knew anything else, what happened?” Pansy asks, Hermione chuckles.

“I wouldn’t mind knowing that as well, we never did find out how you worked it all out,” Snape says.

Hermione looks sheepish all of a sudden. “Well, actually Professor, until Harry physically saw Professor Quirrell there, we thought _you_ were the one trying to steal it.”

Severus vaguely recalls her mentioning this whilst listing all the times the boy had been wrong, but he hadn’t gotten any kind of explanation for it. “What on Earth would have made you think that?” He asks incredulously.

“You were injured by Fluffy biting you, Harry’s scar hurt anytime he looked over at you during meal times, Harry’s broom was out of control during quidditch and you were staring at him and muttering without blinking, it stopped the moment you…uh…caught fire…and honestly you were just _suuuper_ scary.”

Snape huffs out a laugh. “I was trying to check everything was still _safe_ when the damned dog bit me, I can’t explain the scar hurting, but I was trying to stop the hex someone else had put on Potter’s broom, and, Miss Willows, did you _set me on fire_?!”

“Well we know all that _now_. The scar was because you were always sat next to Quirrell who was possessed by Voldemort and Harry’s scar always hurts around him. Or when Voldemort’s feeling a particularly strong emotion.”

“The fire?”

Hermione cringes, “All right, yes, I did set you on fire, but I thought you were trying to kill Harry!”

“Even if I had been the one hexing him, he never would have died!”

“I was eleven and it was the first quidditch match I had ever seen! How was I supposed to know that? I was freaking out that I kept breaking rules and could be expelled, and Ron and Harry were going on in my head, and you were behaving suspiciously, we thought the school was being attacked, and _did I mention the Cerberus!?_ ”

“Had you simply let it go when I told you to, none of it would have happened, the stone was perfectly safe,” McGonagall points out.

“Yes, but then you would not have found out about Quirrell until he had done something and it was too late,” Hermione points out, McGonagall sighs.

“Okay, so that’s what happened then. What about in second year with the petrifying and the Chamber? We never got told what happened, only that Potter had saved the day somehow,” Blaise asks her.

She sighs, “So there was this Basilisk in the school-”

“What is with this school and harbouring dangerous creatures. Cerberus, Basilisk, Werewolf, Dragons, Umbridge, what’s next?” Pansy asks, Hermione laughs at her.

“Remus is _not_ a dangerous creature!” Blaise tells her strongly, looking very pissed off.

“I didn’t mean it like that, Blaise,” Pansy replies but Blaise does not seem any happier. “I’m sorry, you know I love Re, I never meant to imply he is some kind of animal.” Blaise hesitates a moment, then nods and backs down. Pansy clears her throat and turns back to her girlfriend, “Sorry Dear, continue.”

“Harry found the diary of Tom Riddle in the girl’s bathroom on the 1st floor-”

“Wait, what was Harry doing in the girl’s bathroom?” Neville asks.

Lavender shakes her head, “It’s not really, not anymore. Moaning Myrtle lives there so no one uses it.”

“Except Harry apparently,” Anthony adds.

Hermione chuckles, “He knew it was deserted because that’s where we…nevermind. He was talking to Myrtle when he found the diary, turns out it had part of Voldemort’s soul within it. I’m not entirely sure how we got from there to Ginny being, err, kidnapped,” Hermione says, making sure to not give away anything of Ginny’s involvement. “Ron seems to think Harry knows all the missing pieces but won’t talk about it. All I do know is, this remnant of Tom Riddle was controlling the Basilisk and could do so because he was the heir to Slytherin. Harry and Ron found out Lockhart was a fake and for some reason that meant he went down with them, they never really told me why. The three went down, Lockhart got Ron’s wand, some spell backfired because…oh right, Ron’s wand was broken at the time. Anyway, there was a cave in, Lockhart lost his memories and got trapped on one side with Ron, Harry was on the other and went to save Ginny. At some point Dumbledore’s phoenix came down and got Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Lockhart out of there. That’s all I know.”

Susan frowns, “Harry seems to not talk about stuff a lot.”

“Well, it’s all got to have been pretty traumatic, he never told us how he stopped Voldemort and Quirrell either. Actually, I don’t even know how he got the stone…” Hermione realises.

“What about third year, with Sirius Black and everything, do you know everything from then?” Mandy asks.

Hermione chuckles and nods, “Yes, but Ron doesn’t, not all of it. I guess that does make me realise that maybe Harry has a good reason for not telling us these things, just like he and I do for not telling anyone what happened in third year.”

“Then there’s fourth year, whatever happened when Cedric died,” Lavender adds solemnly, they all nod.

“And last year with the Department of Mysteries-right, sorry, doesn’t exist,” Anthony reminds them, adding the last bit when Hermione goes to deny any knowledge.

“Bets on how he almost dies this year?” Severus drawls.

McGonagall swats him, “Severus! That is your God-Son!” All the students laugh, none all too surprised to hear about his relationship to the boy, even if they are completely certain Harry has no idea. Well, most of them are. Hermione, of course, knows that he knows.

“Well he’s done possessing ghost, three-headed dog, basilisk, soul remnant, werewolf, dementors, a dragon, mer-people, evil maze, Voldemort, whatever else may have happened over the years that he hasn’t mentioned, Umbridge, Death Eaters, and Draco. What the hell else is there?” Blaise asks, they all look amused even as they think, Minerva gives Severus a look that clearly conveys who she believes at fault for this conversation.

“Well, it could be Voldemort again,” Neville tells them, they all nod.

“I’m thinking he pisses you off Professor and all hell breaks loose,” Hermione says to Severus who smirks.

“My bet’s he somehow makes an enemy of Dumbledore and gets arrested and sent to Azkaban,” Pansy tells them, they all laugh as Blaise internally starts planning the riot act he’s gonna read to her later.

“He finds out he shares a sister with Draco and just jumps off the castle?” Lavender suggests to which even McGonagall snickers.

“He makes a stupid mistake and nearly blows himself up?” Anthony offers.

“He’s not Seamus,” Hermione reminds him, earning more laughter. 

When it dies down, McGonagall clears her throat to get their attention as a very serious look passes over her face.

“Now children, what I am about to say is to stay between the ten of us.” They all nod, “And it is not to be taken as an indication that I believe such nonsense,” She continues, again they all nod, “That being said, I have been thinking a lot about what we spoke about a few days ago, about Professor Dumbledore. While I do not believe he would knowingly endanger a child, no matter the circumstances, I am forced to accept your observations and those of Professor Snape.” She goes quiet for a moment, everyone exchanging looks as they wait for her to continue, “It is my belief that one cannot simply operate on faith, one requires proof. _I_ require proof, and as such I shall be keeping an eye on him and an ear to the ground. Should you gain anymore information, I do request it is brought to me so that I may deal with it.”

“We can do that,” Hermione tells her after looking at everyone, “But I would appreciate it if you trusted us enough to do the same.” Minerva seems uncertain about this one, however she nods. 

Pansy and Blaise exchange looks before nodding subtly to each other.

“While we are on the subject, we think you should all know something,” Blaise tells them, they turn to look at him, noticing his gaze on Pansy and so look between the two.

“There is…a person who has…misgivings about Albus Dumbledore. This person is collecting evidence of the Headmaster’s…failures and…shortcomings. They have a lot as it is, and they are preparing to bring it to light in an effort to have the Headmaster removed from the school because they do not believe him a…responsible or safe individual to be in charge of a school. Given everything that has happened, we felt they may have a point. We’re helping gather the evidence, whatever happens once it’s brought to light will be the decision of the people and of our laws. We think that’s the only fair way this all gets dealt with, and should the public decide that his actions are justified, we will quite happily let the matter rest,” Pansy explains carefully, everyone seems different levels of surprised, shocked, horrified, or wary.

“Who is this person?” Snape asks suspiciously.

Blaise wets his lips, “We cannot reveal that. Should it be decided that Dumbledore is in the clear, they would rather be able to go on with life without their involvement in this being widely known. Now, we aren’t asking you to harm him in anyway or even to help get rid of him. All we ask, is that you help us reveal the truth, no matter what the truth ends up being.” All those present look around at the others.

“I suppose, so long as it is _the truth_ and not being altered to make him look bad, then there’s no harm in doing so. In fact, we’d be helping everyone really,” Neville decides.

Pansy nods, “That was our thinking as well. So, should you find anything, please let us know. We can add it to the pile, and I will personally request that this person allow us to reveal what else we have to you so that you can properly understand the magnitude of what we have already found.” All nod save for McGonagall who purses her lips and frowns.

“I will not do so if this person will not allow me to know what else has been found. If they do, and if I deem what I see worth all of this, then I shall help you. But not before.”

“That is fair enough, all we ask now is that you not mention this to others,” Blaise asks, she nods.

“Hermione?” Severus asks hesitantly, she looks to her God-father and raises an eyebrow. “What were you, Weasley, and Harry doing in that bathroom that showed him it was deserted?” 

Hermione hisses out a breath, “You know, it’s probably best for your blood pressure and my place in this school that I not mention it and simply promise that it will not _ever_ be happening again.” Everyone exchanges confused looks but with everything they’ve heard…they’re probably better off not knowing.

After dinner that night, Pansy and Blaise corner Severus in his office.

“Can I help you?” He asks, they walk in and shut the door behind him.

“Yes,” Blaise replies simply.

Severus raises an eyebrow, “This is about your plans for Dumbledore, isn’t it?” They nod. “So what didn’t you say?”

“We aren’t just looking to get him fired. We want to destroy him, and we have a plan. A plan outside of Dumbledore and Voldemort, one more easily controlled. We want to know if you want to help?” 

He observes them both for a moment, trying to gauge their seriousness before he leans forward in his chair, elbows on his desk and fingers steepled together. “Children, if you wish to destroy Dumbledore, you cannot simply kill him. The consequences of such an action would be far too widely spread and unpredictable. Who knows how long or far they would go, you’ll get yourselves killed,” Severus tells them.

Pansy rolls her eyes, “We know, Sev. That’s why his death is not our plan, not yet at least.”

“Then what is?”

It’s Blaise that answers him, “We’re going to turn everyone against him, take away his power, destroy his reputation, unveil every shitty thing he’s done and maybe even have him wanted for arrest. We strip him of his place as Headmaster, and by the end, people will rejoice his death. _That_ is our plan.” 

Snape smirks as he leans back in his chair. “You’d be surprised how many people already hate Dumbledore anyway, your biggest problem will be Harry. He has a knack for getting in the way of perfectly good plans to kill Dumbledore, that’s why you have to ruin him first, so that Harry no longer wants to save him.” 

Blaise smirks right back, “You’d be surprised how many people already hate Dumbledore.” Snape raises an eyebrow again, but Blaise does not elaborate.

“I shall look around, find out where people stand in regards to Dumbledore at the moment, and get back to you. Though they’ll want to know who they’re working for.” 

Pansy and Blaise both get up in unison, Pansy smiling.

“He’s called Inimicus, and we are his Reapers. Be sure whoever you talk to isn’t liable to turn on him, he won’t take kindly to that,” She tells him before they both leave. Snape wonders what they’ve gotten themselves into, what _he_ _’_ _s_ gotten himself into, as they do.

The day before school comes back, the students are all out sitting by the lake and chatting when Lavender gets everyone’s attention.

“We should tell each other the passwords for all the common rooms.”

“Why would we do that?” Hermione asks her.

She grins, “Because, what better way to prank everyone than to pull one off in a place you cannot possibly be.” They all look interested.

“I suppose if we don’t trust each other now, we’ll never trust anyone,” Susan tells them, they all agree, and so soon they each had the Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor passwords memorised. All were unhappy to find out that to enter the Ravenclaw door, you had to answer a riddle. Stupid riddles.

“Also, Suse and I have some news,” Anthony tells them all.

Hermione sits up straight and looks directly at Susan, “Tell me you aren’t pregnant.”

“Merlin’s beard, Mio, no! We’re dating, that’s all, get your mind out of the damn gutter.”

“Hey, you don’t see me trying to kick you out of your home!” Everyone laughs. “But seriously guys, congratulations.”

“Yeah, now we just need to find Mandy and Neville someone.” Everyone laughs as Mandy makes a rude gesture and Neville just blushes.

The next day they all rush around setting up any and all practical jokes they can think of, no matter how big or small, before dinner. That done, they all sit down in the hall and talk as they await the return of everyone else.

“So, one more story of Professor Snape as a teenager before everyone returns?” Neville asks, everyone chuckles as Snape just shakes his head in amusement.

“Fine, how about the first time _I_ was on a moving staircase?”

“They existed back then!?” Lavender calls in surprise, he glares at her, she smiles sweetly.

“I was heading…probably to my dorm, I’m not sure, and the Marauders saw me. Your Dad, Mio, decided it would be a great time to torment me, except only James Potter made it onto the stair case before it started moving, leaving the others behind. James and I got off as quickly as we could, but ended up on the wrong side of a locked door. We had the tiny platform in front of the door to stand on after the stairs moved away, and nothing else. Nothing to do but wait for a staircase to come back. Naturally, it descended into the two of us screaming at each other pretty quickly. After an hour had passed though, we were bored. Eventually we started talking, mainly about Lily. We both agreed that she was amazing, and that, whoever she did choose to be with in the end, the other would remain her friend. Which was all well and good, but then he starts being an arrogant prick again. I saw a staircase a level down rotate and stop under him, I knew he’d easily survive the fall, so I pushed him off the ledge and onto the staircase below. Unfortunately, I did not see Professor Dumbledore start walking down that staircase, he ended up accidentally catching James bridal style. Sirius got a photo of it and put copies all around the school. I’ve never been sure why, but he made sure to give me one. I still have that picture.” Everyone’s laughing at the story when they notice the student body frozen in the doorway.

“It appears we’ve let time get away from us, welcome back students,” Minerva tells them and she and Snape head over to the teacher’s table.

After Dumbledore gives his speech and introduces Lucius as the new DADA teacher, Pansy locks eyes with McGonagall who nods slightly to her, before looking briefly at Dumbledore. Then Pansy tunes back into the conversation at the table.

Pansy and Hermione share a moment, Hermione mouthing ‘definitely their fault’ when Draco and Harry argue, reminding Pansy of their agreement that the house rivalries lay at the feet of these two. 

“Sounds like I’m not the only one who had an interesting break,” Hermione says with a sly grin after Harry and Draco mention the food fight, Ron and Harry seem surprised at the look on her face. “No holding back,” She explains, Ron just shakes his head, bewildered, Harry smiles fondly and nods.

“No holding back.”


	15. Angel With A Shotgun

Chapter 14 – Angel With A Shotgun

Note: Chapter Title from The Cab’s song ‘Angel With A Shotgun’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“_ _No holding back._ _”_ _She explains, Ron just shakes his head, bewildered, Harry smiles fondly and nods._

_“_ _No holding back._ _”_

Now,

Harry sends a letter to Remus to let him know they are all back before pulling out his piece of enchantment parchment and telling Draco to be at the graveyard at three with the others.

At two-thirty, Harry gently wakes Illa, _“_ _Still want answers?_ _”_ She coils around his arm and drapes herself over his shoulders. _“_ _I_ _’_ _ll take that as a yes._ _”_ Grabbing the map, he sneaks out of the room.

When he reaches the girl’s bathroom, he takes a moment to look around. Thinking of spending so much time in here for the Polyjuice potion, unaware of the danger that lie beneath. A danger he destroyed with the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Only, now Harry knows who is Father is, he really can’t believe that he’s a true Gryffindor.

He still looks amused when, fifteen minutes later, the others (Minus Remus of course) enter the Chamber.

“We need to find a way to get Metum in here,” Harry says without preamble, “Also, I don’t know how much use that second entrance is going to be with the amount of time Snape spends in there.”

“What do we do then?” Draco asks.

Harry looks thoughtful, “There could be an entrance in the Slytherin common rooms.”

“It probably has blood magic protection as well though. Which we have found no way around, by the way, but we have some ideas on the subject,” Blaise tells him.

Harry nods, “We don’t necessarily _need_ to, it just would have been more convenient,” He says, “There is a network of tunnels underneath the Whomping Willow, perhaps we can find a way to connect that somehow, that way Remus can get in as well.”

“How so? He’d still have to get on school grounds without being seen.”

“No, he wouldn’t,” Harry doesn’t elaborate.

Blaise sighs frustratedly, “Okay, we’ll leave you to ponder on that. You said you’d explain Danielle being alive later, do you know where her parents are?” Blaise asks.

“With Danielle, safe, alive, and free.” Again he does not elaborate, at least this time they understand that his silence is in protection of the family. “You know, when you think about it, it makes sense.” 

The other three exchange confused looks.

“What does?” Pansy asks.

“The entrances. The potions lab, likely the Slytherin dorm. The potions lab protected by blood magic, I’d say you’re right, Blaise, the entrance in your common room is probably blood magic as well. I’ve always wondered, Salazar being male, why the entrance was in the girl’s bathroom. I just figured it wasn’t always the girl’s bathroom, but why change that? After the discovery of the entrance Pansy found, I wondered why that was protected with such a strong spell when this one just requires you say the word open.”

“I’m sorry, how is any of this making sense?” Blaise asks him.

“The entrance isn’t for him,” Draco realises with a smirk.

Harry smiles at him conspiratorially, “Exactly. There was someone else he was letting in, someone not of his blood, and likely female.”

“Then there could be others,” Pansy comments.

Blaise shakes his head, “If there were a bunch of entrances all over the school, they’d have been found.”

“The two we know of hadn’t been,” Pansy points out.

“That we know of,” Draco comments, the three look at him in confusion. “I mean the heir to Slytherin can open the Chamber and control the basilisk, the family line of Salazar himself. A family line consists of more than two people. Just because they made a lot of noise about it this time, doesn’t mean no one has done it quietly before.”

“If Draco is right and someone has been here before, there may be evidence of it. Something that could help us. I’ll have another look around with that in mind later,” He tells them, they all nod, “There are a lot of unanswered questions about what happened back in second year, and about this entire place, but to be honest, I don’t think we will ever get answers to them. The imprint is dead, as is the Basilisk, the other involved barely remembers a thing, and if I knew the answers, we wouldn’t be asking questions.”

“So all we can do is focus on now,” Pansy says, he nods. “Then what’s the plan, Boss?”

“Did you two manage to recruit anyone over the holidays?” He asks, the two grin.

“Oh we managed to recruit _everyone_. Except McGonagall, as far as discrediting him goes though, she’s willing to help us find dirt on Dumbledore only once she’s seen or heard what we already have.” 

Harry looks impressed at her before questioning, “Everyone but McGonagall, what about Snape?”

“He was pretty easy to convince.”

“Pansy he’s been working as a double agent longer than any of us have been alive,” Harry replies dryly.

“So which side has he really been on?” Blaise asks, not liking the idea that he could be playing them. Severus raised him and he will defend the man to his dying breath, he knows Severus will always do what he thinks is right. The question Blaise finds himself asking is, what is it that Sev thinks is right?

“Far as I can tell? His own.”

“No, he’s been on Harry’s,” Draco informs them, a certainty in his voice that surprises them. “I don’t know if it’s because of who your Aunt is, or because of his connection to you, but his goal is to keep you safe.”

“God-Father duties,” Blaise mutters, Harry and Draco look confused, Pansy seems amused. Apparently she didn’t pick up on the look in Sev’s eyes when he said that to Hermione. It wasn’t humour. Whatever these ‘God-Father duties’ are, or have been, they are very serious to him.

“He’ll also want to be on the side you are on,” Pansy reminds Draco.

“Good thing two out of three god-children are on our side,” Blaise comments, earning a reprimanding look from Pansy for telling them they know anything before Hermione has a chance to speak with Harry. 

Draco and Harry share a look. “Think it’ll be enough?” Harry asks, Draco considers. Blaise and Pansy exchange confused looks, wondering why they aren’t questioning where and when he learnt this. The two of them know that Harry has known Severus is his God-Father for a while because Hermione mentioned that Jamie told him. They are a little surprised to see he told Draco though. Close as the two may have grown, he’s not exactly the most open person.

“He hates Dumbledore, that much I know. But he also feels indebted to him. Plus, we agreed to leave Harry’s name out of it as much as possible so that can’t be used to convince him. What exactly did you say to him?” Draco wonders.

“That we had a plan to destroy Dumbledore that was outside of Voldemort and Dumbledore, asked if he wanted to help. He told us that if Dumbledore were to be destroyed, one cannot simply kill him. The repercussions would be too great and we’d end up dead.”

“So what did you say?” Harry asks.

Blaise smirks, “We said we know, that’s why his death is not yet our goal. If we turn everyone against him, take his power away, destroy his reputation, have him wanted for arrest even, and his place in the school stripped, then people will rejoice his death. That is our plan.”

“And he said?” Draco asks when neither continue.

“He said we’d be surprised how many people already hate him anyway, and told us that our biggest problem may well be Harry because he has a knack for ruining perfectly good plans for killing Dumbledore, that that’s why we have to ruin him first. We…may have alluded to something.” Harry raises an eyebrow at Pansy. “It was Blaise’s fault!”

“Oh, come on, Pansy.”

“You were the one that wanted to be dramatic.”

“What did you do?” Harry asks, voice strong but not loud, they stop fighting.

“I told him he’d be surprised at how many people already hate Dumbledore.” Draco chuckles as Harry sighs and facepalms. “Long story short-though-not-really-short, he’s putting some feelers out. People who want Dumbledore discredited but not necessarily killed, just finding out where people stand on Dumbledore. We figure by the time everything is revealed, they’ll want him dead, even if they don’t now,” Blaise explains.

Harry nods, “Hermione?”

“She was also easy, turns out she was looking into him anyway. We got talking, it wasn’t hard, she ended being the one to convince everyone else to join us,” Pansy informs Harry.

He nods again, “I suppose waiting to see if she tells Ron or I will be an interesting test of loyalty.”

“Everyone we have on board, including those from before holidays, know there is a leader, a mastermind behind the plot, though only Snape knows the name Inimicus. I was thinking, we should get Dumbledore’s attention somehow. Show the others that Inimicus has influence within the school, but not enough to bring outward influence in. Something like Remus was suggesting, about making our move,” Pansy tells him.

Harry smirks in amusement, “If anything in this school were going to bring outward influence in, it would have been when one of our Professors turned out to be working for Voldemort and trying to make him immortal only to be stopped by an eleven-year-old muggle raised.”

“Fair point,” Blaise says.

Harry nods, “I do agree though, I have some things in place to do just that.”

“Of course you do,” Blaise mutters,

Pansy glares at him, “What can we do?” She asks Harry.

“Nothing yet. It’s too soon for any of it. There are other steps that must be taken first. None of it should be problematic enough to have them resist. Just have them sow a little chaos, begin making it appear that Dumbledore has no control over the school, but they need to make sure they listen should McGonagall tell them to stop. Any other Professors and they should react the way they would have without deviation. Pansy, have Hermione continue looking into Dumbledore, we need proof of wrongdoings. Draco, Blaise, everyone that’s on our side needs to be putting doubt about Dumbledore into the minds of others without actually bringing them into the fold. Just enough to question his competency and if he is who he says he is.”

“Anything else?” Blaise asks seriously.

“Dray, start putting people into groups. If they think someone could be recruited, have them tell Pansy somehow, they cannot bring them in alone. We can get a piece of enchanted parchment per group, if it’s urgent they can contact me using that, and they can communicate with you guys when needed.”

“I also think it might be a good idea if Inimicus were to talk to Snape, make sure he’s really on our side. I can set it up for tomorrow night if you’re willing?” Draco suggests.

Blaise interrupts before Harry can answer, “He’ll know Harry’s voice.”

“I thought ahead on that, most people know me after all. Brought a voice disguiser,” Harry tells them, they seem confused.

“Going by the name I’m assuming that’s some muggle device that will change how your voice sounds?” Pansy says, he nods, “Brilliant.”

“Do you want us there?” Blaise asks.

Harry shakes his head, “No, I think this conversation should happen alone.”

“There is a lot more that happened in the holidays that you should know of, Sir.” Blaise tells him, surprising Draco and Harry both, “But first I want you to know that I’m behind you with this, fully.” Harry nods his understanding and for the boy to continue. “Everyone from the holidays is keeping an eye and an ear out for discrepancies around Dumbledore. We have the passwords for all the House common rooms and a system to know as they update. Except Ravenclaw of course, blasted riddles. We also know the truth of who your father is. Mio is going to tell you and likely Weasley about it soon, she made a family tree and thinks it’s best you find out your father is Voldemort before class,” He tells him.

Harry raises both eyebrows at he and Pansy, “Anything else?”

Pansy nods and informs him, “Yes, there’s more she plans to talk to you about. I’m of the opinion it will be better coming from her, but I think it’s sort of our job to warn you. Over the holidays one of the things we did was come up with an idea on how to get Peter Pettigrew convicted and Sirius Black proven innocent. She can go into more detail on that. We also discussed a lot of other things I believe you may be interested in knowing. But none of it is time essential.”

“Good work, both of you.”

Pansy’s eyes widen as she remembers something, “Oh, also, I’d like permission to continue using your cloak to research in the restricted section. We found some promising leads that I believe can give us a way to manipulate the Blood Seal on the entrances. But more than that, I think it could open up doorways to altering many different kinds of spells, which certainly seems worth looking into.”

Harry nods, “That’s a good idea. Let me know what you find.”

_“_ _So, your intention is to ruin and then kill Dumbledore,_ _”_ Illa says on the way back to the dorms.

 _“_ _Yes,_ _”_ Harry replies, though it wasn’t really a question.

_“_ _Seems like the sort of thing that could get in the way of your Father_ _’_ _s plans._ _”_

Harry pointedly continues looking forwards, _“_ _I would not know, I do not know my father_ _’_ _s plans. But if he wants control of the wizarding world, and I suspect he does, he_ _’_ _ll need the wizard out of his way to do so. That may as well happen on my agenda._ _”_

_“_ _I was told you were a Saviour, an enemy of Voldemort. Now I know that not only are you his son, you_ _’_ _re also just like him._ _”_

_“_ _Like Father like Son I suppose, what_ _’_ _s your point?_ _”_

_“_ _Well I was rather hoping you would tell me yours._ _”_

_“_ _You want to know why Dumbledore?_ _”_

_“_ _I do._ _”_

_“_ _Because why not?_ _”_

Illa seems surprised at that response, _“_ _You_ _’_ _re destroying a man_ _’_ _s life just because you can?_ _”_

 _“_ _That_ is _the entire point of this. Bad stuff happens to random people simply because bad stuff happens, this is no different. The world isn_ _’_ _t kind. I wanted to teach someone else that, why not him?_ _”_

Illa is quiet for a few moments as she considers his words, _“_ _Have you considered seeing a mind healer?_ _”_

Harry chuckles, _“_ _My Father tried to make me once, he failed._ _”_

_“_ _How?_ _”_

_“_ _I told him I_ _’_ _d go if he did._ _”_

Illa lets out what seems to Harry as the snake version of laughter.

The next morning Harry heads down to breakfast with Ron, finding Hermione and Pansy once more with their arms around each other. As he sits across from Hermione, Harry notices Draco and Blaise beside Pansy.

“I wonder how many people in here actually wear the uniform and not just use a glamour charm like Mio did,” Pansy muses.

“I wouldn’t suggest using the disillusionment charm on everyone in here,” Lavender warns as she sits beside her boyfriend, Pansy looks at her questioningly. “In any situation there is always going to be at least one idiot that takes it too far.” Everyone seems confused before Hermione starts laughing.

“Yeah, okay, don’t cast it Pans, there are some things I don’t want to see. Though I suppose that depends on who the idiot is.”

“Mio!” Lavender cries at her.

Hermione laughs, everyone else still seems confused. “People use the glams because they can’t be bothered wearing the uniform, what if someone couldn’t be bothered wearing clothes at all?” A beat later everyone within hearing range laughs.

“Bet it would be some Gryffindor on a dare,” Draco tells them, no one can really disagree with that, it _is_ the most likely. “Ugh, imagine if it were a teacher.” Everyone shudders.

“I mean, their glamour’s have gotta be pretty strong, maybe they don’t bother dressing properly either. I mean, not necessarily naked but, normal clothes.”

“You say that like those aren’t their normal clothes,” Anthony interjects earning another round of laughter.

“Never thought I’d be joking around with a bunch of Slytherins, a few Ravenclaws, and a few Hufflepuffs,” Ron comments.

Blaise looks at him disarmingly, “Times are changing Weasley, Slytherins aren’t ones to get left behind.” Ron opens his mouth to respond, pretty obviously it would have been an insult, so Harry stomps on his foot under the table.

“Ow!” 

Hermione laughs into Pansy’s shoulder.

“Welcome class, I understand we are part the way through the year, and while I read the notes and have discussed with Professor Snape what you’ve covered, I’d like for you to walk me through what you’ve done so far,” Lucius begins in his first lesson of DADA with the sixth years.

“Why?” Ron asks before remembering who he is talking to and seeming torn between being more of an arse and being terrified, much to everyone else’s amusement. Well, the Slytherins’, anyway. The rest of the class is pretty much in the same headspace.

“Because whatever you don’t mention is something you haven’t learnt and we’ll have to go back over it.” No one can debate the logic of that, and so they go through what they’ve done. 

During the lesson, everyone is quite surprised at how good a teacher Lucius is, Hermione and Ron are just glad Harry has his own books now.

“You know, I was expecting to be twitchy about him being our teacher, but he’s got to be one of the best we’ve had. Second to Remus, of course,” Hermione says quietly those around her, that being Harry, Ron, Draco, Pansy, Blaise, and Lavender.

“Good, maybe you won’t set him on fire like you’re apparently prone to do,” Lavender whispers back, Hermione sighs as Pansy giggles and Blaise sniggers.

“I thought he was trying to kill Harry!” 

Draco looks extremely confused as Harry looks concerned.

“How much did you tell them about our first year Hermione?”

“Umm…let’s just say that Snape knows we thought it was him as do the others. Also, they know how we first found Fluffy. Most of what I know of what happened they know. Along with second year as well. Which really isn’t much.”

“Third year?” Harry asks.

She shakes her head, “Of course not.”

“Better bloody not tell them if you won’t even tell _me,_ ” Ron complains.

“Speaking of things I know, I gotta talk to you two later, _alone,_ ” Hermione tells her two oldest friends, they exchange looks but nod all the same.

“All right, now, I know you have all learnt about, and faced, boggarts before, but we’ll be doing that again. I need to be able to sign off on all of you being able to do the spell,” Lucius tells them, effectively bringing everyone’s focus back to him.

As they once had in third year, they head to the staffroom and everyone lines up in front of the cupboard housing the boggart. It does not really surprise Harry that he’s pushed to the front of the line. Though they’ve all faced it before and know how to deal with it, facing your worst fear would never really get easier, and everyone had a habit of looking to him when something brave needed to be done. In this case it was perhaps a bit ridiculous given that he’s the one who didn’t do this last time.

“Now Mr Potter, in the event of a clown coming out of there, do try not to assault it, yes?” Lucius tells him with thinly-veiled amusement. Draco snickers from where he is down the line, Harry glares at him.

“Yes, Professor,” Harry replies as he hears Ron mutter about needing to hear that story. Harry steps up to the cupboard, trying to think about what he fears most.

“Are you ready?”

“To be honest Professor, I’m struggling to think of what I fear most.”

Lucius looks thoughtful, “Take a minute, think of what would be the worst thing for you and why that’s so horrid. Most things like that are based in fear.” Harry thinks it through before something very clear comes to mind. He takes a deep, shaky breath, and nods. Lucius opens the cupboard. Pansy, Blaise, and Draco worry that it will somehow give away what they are doing while Lucius worries it could give away the boy’s parentage. Harry stands tall as the boggart takes the shape of Sirius Black which surprises everyone, then not-Sirius opens his mouth.

“Oh Harry, how could you? I am so very disappointed in you. I thought you were like James, but I was wrong, you’re nothing but a coward.” Before he could go on Harry interrupts.

“Ridikulus!” Sirius is suddenly morphing into two and suddenly he’s slow dancing with Severus Snape, everyone laughs at it as Lucius attempts to hide his chuckle. Harry takes another shaky breath as he chuckles, walking with confidence back to his seat, everyone cheering him on as he does. Harry can’t help but see Hermione hiding at the back of the room, clearly hoping they’ll run out of time before she gets there. They don’t. They go through everyone’s boggarts, Draco’s being a particularly memorable boggart of his mother’s corpse on the floor looking up at Draco and telling him it’s his fault she’s dead. He performed the spell, then everyone politely averted their gaze as Lucius embraced him. Ron’s boggart of Aragog eventually on roller skates never gets old. Hermione surprises them all at her turn when she calmly looks to Lucius.

“I’d like to request I do mine outside of class time and with a different teacher, Sir. Specifically either Professor Snape or Professor McGonagall, if possible.” 

Lucius raises an eyebrow, “And what, pray tell, is the reason for such a request, Miss Willows?” He asks evenly, giving no indication of how he feels or how likely he is to grant her request.

“Because a lot has changed since I last faced a boggart, and while I’m sure a great many things could and would scare me, I am only afraid of one thing, and it is not something I wish to share with the rest of the class or, quite frankly, you.” Lucius holds her gaze for a moment, she stares calmly into his eyes. 

He nods, “Very well Miss Willows, I shall speak with Professor McGonagall at Lunch.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Now, you all did splendidly. That concludes this lesson, now that I know where you’re all at, next lesson should hopefully be more interesting,” He says with a kind smile that looks out of place on his usually cold features, though Draco seems to see something the others do not, because he looks as though the answer to all his questions is right before him.

After DADA was Herbology for the Gryffindors and Divination for the Slytherins for those that chose them, a free period for those who did not, then lunch. After Lunch, McGonagall collects Hermione from the Great Hall as the others head off to Potions with Snape.

Minerva can safely say that she was surprised when Lucius spoke to her about Hermione’s request, then she thought about it and realised it really wasn’t all that surprising. As such, she was less than shocked when the boggart took the shape of Lucius Malfoy who immediately began yelling at her that she isn’t good enough, a disgrace of a Malfoy to be raised by muggles, and that she would never be welcome in his family. To her credit, Hermione only let him speak for a moment before shouting Ridikulus at him, then he was dressed in drag with pigtails and completely failing to look intimidating.

“I will never be able to look at the man again without seeing this,” Minerva tells her as she looks the boggart over, Hermione giggles looking quite self-satisfied. “Mio, I was a teacher here even when Lucius was a student. He has always wanted a daughter, and while he loves Draco more than anything else in the world, there will always be room in his heart for more family, including the daughter he feels he will never have. I’m not suggesting you tell him, that is entirely up to you. But he is not the cold man he often appears to be, and _should_ you decide to tell him, I’ve no doubt he’d welcome you home with open arms.”

Hermione looks to the floor, grabbing her elbow with one hand as the other remains at her side. “I just can’t help but feel there is a reason my mother never told him about me. Why my Dad became my Dad so completely in that adoption.”

“Of course there was, people don’t usually do anything without reason, especially when it comes to their children. Perhaps one day you can even ask her. But ultimately what you do or do not tell him is no longer her decision to make, it is yours. You must make the choice that is right for you, not that may or may not be what your mother wished sixteen years ago.” 

Hermione nods, “Thank you, Professor.” 

McGonagall nods to her with a smile before writing out a short note to Snape on a piece of parchment and handing it over.

“Now, off to potions with you, make sure neither Mr Potter, nor Mr Weasley blow anything up.”

Hermione grins, “They may get it wrong Professor, but they are no Seamus Finnigan.” 

Severus is watching Harry with calculating eyes when Hermione walks in, she sighs as she wonders what he could have done in the ten minutes she was not present.

“Miss Willows, why are you late to my class?” Snape asks sounding unimpressed, though less cruel than he would have been prior to these holidays. She hands over her note, he reads it over and nods, “Join someone, we’re brewing a potion. Once finished you must write down what you think it will do. At the end of the lesson I’ll select someone to ingest their potion and we shall see who is correct.” Hermione nods, smiling to him as she goes and joins Harry and Ron.

After the potion is finished, Hermione looks back over the ingredients used and realises that this potion will have a similar effect to the confundus charm.

“All right, everyone hand your guesses to me with your name written on it. Then, Mr Potter, you shall take your potion.” Harry, predictably, grumbles the entire time up to the front of the room as everyone walks back to their seats after handing their answers to Snape.

Harry takes a deep breathe before taking a large gulp of the potion. He looks around in confusion for a moment before he opens his mouth.

“What was I doing…?” He asks, seemingly unable to work out where he is or what he’s doing. It lasts all of a minute before he blinks owlishly and snaps out of it. “Well, that was unpleasant,” He states, grabbing at his head and looking quite distressed.

“Mr Potter, would you please describe to the class how this particular potion made you feel?”

Harry thinks it over while trying to calm his panic and racing heart, “Kind of like being under water, and trying to swim to the surface but being unsure which way that is or how you came to be under the water to begin with. Details of what’s around you just seem to rush by you and around you like water, pressing in on you but you can’t really work out what is doing the pressing. The worst part is being unable to work out why this is happening to you and you just want it to stop but you can’t even work out how to vocalise that thought or your panic and your just sort of…stuck,” Harry tells them all, everyone, barring Snape, seems surprised at the intensity of his description when none of that had showed on his face while under the effects of the potion.

“Have you ever been a victim of a confundus charm?” Snape asks Harry nods. “Describe its differences.”

“To be honest, it would be easier to describe the similarities. On paper these seem to be almost the same except the potion is ingested and the charm is cast. Both cause confusion, but the charm confuses you in such a way that you don’t really feel confused. There is no panic, no trying to work out what’s going on, you just sort of drift in the confusion. This potion is harsher, more…I don’t know. It’s just worse.” The class grows concerned at how shook up by the experience Harry seems to be.

“Having been through it, would you use this potion on others?”

Harry looks at Snape for a moment, considering, “There are far worse things that could be done to a person. Given the right circumstances, yes, I probably would. But if I had it my way, Professor, this potion would be as forbidden as the Cruciatus curse.” 

Snape looks into Harry’s eyes, and frowns with something akin to sympathy. “Why am I getting the feeling that you speak from experience in both cases?”

Harry suddenly looks very afraid, tears filling his eyes, “Because Voldemort is a very bad man,” He says quietly before walking hurriedly out of the classroom, leaving all his stuff behind. Everyone stares, horrified, after him.

“Everyone, pour your potions down the sinks, except you Miss Willows, hand yours to me.”

“What are you going to do with it, sir?” Hermione asks, the entire class seems unwilling to let anyone be in possession of such a potion after Harry’s words. It does comfort them that Snape looks just as unsettled.

“I’m going to have Dumbledore drink it. I suspect this particular practical will very quickly find itself removed from the curriculum.” Everyone seems very pleased with this. “Miss Parkinson, Miss Willows, Mr Zabini, Mr Malfoy, Miss Patil, five points to your houses each for being the only ones in the class to guess correctly. You’re all free to go.”

All those from the holidays knew that things would not have changed with Snape completely, and while he was as cold, harsh, and infallible as always, they were pleasantly surprised to find the cruelty in his actions all but non-existent.

“Can I help you, Draco?” Snape asks when he stays behind instead of leaving with the rest of them.

“Yes, are you busy tonight? About midnight?” Snape looks to him in confusion, he walks closer, placing his hands on Snape’s desk and leaning forward slightly, “Inimicus wants to talk.” Snape’s face does not betray his surprise, but Draco can see it anyway as he leans back in his chair.

“You’re in on this too? A…Reaper, wasn’t it?” Draco nods maintaining a serious expression. “I do not think your Father would approve of what you and your friends are doing.”

“No, I don’t think he would either.”

“You would go against him?”

“For this? Yes. I believe in this Uncle, I believe in him.”

“You sound like your Grandfather once did when speaking of The Dark Lord. Whom you are also disobeying.”

Draco smirks, “It’s not really disobeying if he does not tell me not to do it.”

“And if he did?” Severus asks challengingly.

Draco’s expression grows serious again, “ _Then_ I will be disobeying. Midnight, by the Whomping Willow,” He says before walking out, leaving a rather surprised God-Father behind. Whatever it is they are truly doing, whoever it is they are backing, all three children are prepared to go against Lord Voldemort and their parents. 

“I suppose my marking is going to wait a night then,” He mutters to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, does anyone happen to remember if Boggarts can talk? If they don’t canonically they do here, I’ve gone too far with that to turn back now. But I’m doubting whether or not they were supposed to so if anyone knows, lemme know. Dementors are not in my book of Harry Potter magical creatures sadly.
> 
> Also, due to the warning from Ao3 about emails, I made the decision to hold off on updating until that period had passed so that no one would miss an email about new chapters and then have 3 or 4 to catch up on. But we’re back now!


	16. Radioactive

Chapter 15 – Radioactive

Note: Chapter Title from Imagine Dragon’s song ‘Radioactive’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Whatever it is they are truly doing, whoever it is they are backing, all three children are prepared to go against Lord Voldemort and their parents._

_“_ _I suppose my marking is going to wait a night then._ _”_ _He mutters to himself._

Now,

Nobody sees Harry again until Dinner, for the last three lessons of the day, Hermione goes to the teacher to explain that Harry isn’t feeling well, but is stopped and told that Snape sent a memo alerting his teachers that Potter has taken ill and will not be attending their lesson for which Hermione is very grateful. She, and the others, are actually rather surprised when he finally _does_ turn up. Though Pansy, Blaise, and Draco are relieved. If Inimicus could not show up to his meeting with Snape, it would have been entirely too obvious who he is dealing with.

“Harry, hey, where have you been? We were worried,” Neville tells him as he sits beside the boy and across from Lavender and Blaise.

“Visiting Remus,” He replies numbly as he grabs food with shaking hands. It reassures everyone though.

“Just so you know, Sev is trying to get the potion removed from the curriculum,” Pansy tells him.

He nods sagely, “If I never have to experience that thing again it will still be like a hundred years too late.” Everyone kind of chuckles at his words, he seems to try to shake himself out of his funk, “So, what have we got tomorrow, Mio?”

“First up is Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid, then we have…we have Charms with Professor Flitwick. Then you have Divination, free period, and then Ancient Runes.”

“Not looking forward to Charms?” Ron asks her.

She looks around shiftily, “Let’s just say that this potion is not the only thing Snape is trying to have removed from the curriculum, or compulsory part anyway.” Everyone seems concerned, minus those from the holidays.

After dinner, Hermione drags Harry and Ron to the back of the library and pulls out a piece of parchment.

“What’s this?” Ron asks.

Hermione sighs, “Charms tomorrow, we’re doing a spell that shows your family tree. Given my situation, I decided to perform the spell first amongst friends so that I least I know what I’m going to see first. You showed up on my tree, Harry,” She explains, showing him the parchment.

“Bloody ‘ell,” Ron exclaims when he reads the names. Harry just stares at it with wide eyes, turning to Hermione and seeing the hope glimmering in her teary eyes, a smile slowly breaks out on his face, the tension fading from Hermione as she sees it. He pulls her into a hug and her head drops to his shoulder as she cries in relief.

“I always said you were practically my sister anyway,” Harry tells her as he pulls away, she smiles at him as he wipes away the tears on her face. Harry feels his reserves about his true parentage being irrelevant slipping further and further away, no matter how much he scrambles to hold onto it. He knows now that it is relevant, that it’s happening now and they are here, he’s just being stubborn because he doesn’t really want to deal with it all.

“Seriously how does your make-up never smudge?” Ron asks, the siblings look at him in exasperation. “Yeah, bad timing, sorry. Congrats though, both of you. Even if your Fathers are a little…horrid.”

“Yeah, my sister is a Malfoy,” Harry says, scrunching up his nose.

Hermione hits his arm, “My brother is the spawn of Voldemort,” She replies.

He nods sagely, “Yes, that is rather unfortunate.”

“I was really expecting a bigger reaction,” Hermione tells him.

He shrugs, “Remus told me that much.” The other two look surprised, but calmer now that they know he’s not just sidestepping it, “Holy crap, I completely forgot that Snape’s my godfather as well as Uncle James and Sirius!”

“Mine to, but I don’t have Dad as my God-Father, obviously since he was a parent from the beginning for me, I have Remus.”

Ron seems confused, “Dad?”

“See this stem?” Ron nods. “The reason it’s segmented is because it’s a line showing adoption. Mum and Dad got married, Dad adopted Harry and I.”

“I just still don’t understand, why didn’t Sirius tell me? Why did Snape hate me so much when James Potter isn’t even my Father?” Harry asks, brows furrowed.

Hermione sighs, “It was Mum’s idea to lie, to pretend you were Aunt Lily and Uncle James’ son. I don’t know if the same would have happened to me or not. We were both given to other people, Petunia and Vernon clearly had been told by our Aunt and Uncle that you were their kid so you were raised believing that. Everyone believed that to be the truth. I truly don’t know why no one ever told you though, Dumbledore knew but McGonagall didn’t.”

“Aunt Petunia does know, knows more than I ever knew,” Harry tells them quietly, neither quite know what he means, clearly it being more than the obvious, but they don’t think now is the time to address it.

“This is what you were talking about when you said you’d found something on Dumbledore, isn’t it?” Ron asks to side-step whatever Hornet’s nest of Harry’s they’d inadvertently stumbled into this time.

Hermione nods, “Partially anyway. Listen there is more you should know Harry. Our Mother is alive.” Harry gasps lightly, sure he had known that, but the possibility of actually being able to find her? It had not even crossed his mind. Or rather, he hadn’t allowed it to. “She’s in a muggle Prison, I don’t know which one, nor do I know why, neither do Remus or Snape. Well, they know where, they just don’t know why.” Harry remains silent for a while, processing and already knowing he has no intention of going to see Delilah Black. Even so he cannot help but stare down at her place on _his sister_ _’_ _s_ family tree. Because he has a sister, and she’s right here, and he’s not sure what he’s thinking or feeling about that.

“Are you going to tell Lord Malfoy?” Harry asks to shift the subject slightly.

Hermione looks uncomfortable, “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Fair enough, he’s a git, I wouldn’t want to,” Ron says cruelly.

Harry punches his arm, “Lucius Malfoy is a good man. A dick sometimes sure, and maybe he isn’t the warmest or friendliest person around either, but he cares for his family more than _anything_. You don’t know him, Ron, I know he has a long history with your family, but he’s a good person and if given the chance he would have been a great father for his daughter just like he has been for Draco. He’d have looked out for her like he does him, and like he looks out for me.”

“Now you’re defending the git? He’s a Malfoy! Like father like son, you can’t trust either of the pasty bastards,” Ron tells him harshly.

Harry glares at his best friend, “Ron, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh like your entire schooling life with Malfoy hasn’t given you a clue?”

“We were kids Ron! Kids can be cruel, we weren’t exactly nice to them either.”

“HE started it!”

“And we never bothered to finish it. If we’d ignored him from the beginning he’d have gotten bored and stopped.”

“So what? It’s our fault?”

“No Ron, I’m just saying it doesn’t matter anymore. We cannot hold a grudge over stuff that happened when we were kids forever. He hasn’t made a single cruel comment to any of us since we got back from holidays, can’t you just accept the truce being offered? Why keep fighting?”

“Because I’m not just going to forget about everything he’s done to us over the years, Harry. Maybe you can just let go of five years of that but I can’t, especially last year.”

“I’m not forgetting Ron, I just don’t see the point of fighting. What does any of it matter? If he offends us in some way, we aren’t gonna die. It only matters if we actually listen. If he’s decided to be a nice person, who are we to deny him that chance? Like it or not I’m living with him now, and he’s Mio’s brother. Regardless of whether or not she tells him, that remains true unless she decides to completely disown him. He’s grown up, Ron, you need to as well.” 

Ron looks angry for a second before he forcibly calms. He spends a few moments looking rather constipated before he looks up at them, “All right,” He says slowly, “I guess we have more important things to worry about anyway, like Voldemort and Dumbledore and stuff.”

Harry nods, smiling slightly and knowing that’s the most he’ll get out of Ron at the moment. “What did you find on Dumbledore anyway, Hermione?”

“Actually, real quick, about the whole it’s Hermione’s choice if she tells him or not,” Ron says, looking worried.

“What about it?” Harry asks.

“Well, he’s doing the charms thing too, isn’t he?” Harry and Hermione look at each other for a moment before Hermione groans.

“I can talk to him if you want? Or Pansy probably would if you asked.”

“I appreciate that Harry but, I should probably do this.”

He nods, accepting her choice, “Okay, so, Dumbledore?” Harry asks again.

“To answer that I have to tell you about the night Aunt Lily and Uncle James died,” She tells him, he looks pensive but nods. “When Snape got there, it was all over. Our Aunt and Uncle were dead, so was Voldemort and you were crying. He went back to Remus, he’d left me with him, only I was gone.”

“What do you mean gone?” Ron asks, “How can a baby just leave?”

“Snape says Dumbledore had taken it upon himself to hide me away in case Harry’s Father ever returned, he felt I might be in danger.”

“So it was him that put you in foster care?” Harry asks as Ron frowns.

She nods, “Yes Harry, and you with the Dursley’s despite there being people who could have taken care of both of us. Then Dad is locked away without a trial, who knows what really happened with Mum, but I’d bet my Quill Collection on Dumbledore having something to do with it.”

“Damn that’s serious,” Harry mutters seriously, Hermione nods.

Ron shakes his head, putting a hand up in a halting motion. “Okay wait, we’re basing this all on the word of Severus Snape.”

“Ron, what reason do we have not to trust him?”

“He’s a git! And…um…” Ron trails off. They’ve often suspected him of things, but in the end it has never _been_ him.

“All due respect, Ron, you can be a git too. We all can. But we have no reason not to trust him, we have many to question Dumbledore’s motives and actions,” Harry points out, “Besides, Remus was married to him for _years_ and raised two kids with him. There’s got to be _something_ other than a bitter old dungeon bat there.”

“Everyone’s gone completely barmy this term,” Ron mutters, “Fine, say we believe this. Dumbledore was _right_ , he did come back, and if he finds out who you are you probably _will_ be in danger.”

Harry frowns in thought, “Then why is she here?”

“What?”

“Why did you get a Hogwarts letter? If he was hiding you away in the muggle world?” Harry asks.

Hermione thinks, “McGonagall is in charge of the letters, but the system of finding all the magical children in the UK is a spell she casts, then all the letters are written magically and sent to everyone the spell found. Plus, I’m here a year early, Dumbledore would have been expecting me in Ginny’s year. Until the Glamor dropped, it’s entirely possible he had no idea who I am, or maybe he knew the moment he saw me. But seeing as that was in sorting, it would have been far too late to do anything about it.”

“Why did you get your letter early?” Ron asks.

Hermione sighs, “I really don’t know.” They think over this for a moment.

“What else have you got?”

“Snape warned Dumbledore what Vernon was like, plus the Squib on Privet Drive, there’s no way he didn’t know how the Dursleys were treating Harry. He’s never been concerned with the safety of the school. In all honesty, I think he’s gotten obsessed with stopping Voldemort and forgotten everything else, ignored the consequences of his plans in favour of pushing for everything to fall into place in order to stop this big bad. He hasn’t noticed that Voldemort isn’t the only bad guy anymore, he’s fallen so far into the scheming and lying that he’s just like him.”

“He is nothing like Voldemort!” Ron tells her angrily.

“He has the Order as his followers, he’s quite willing to lose people along the way, and he manipulates everything around him to suit him so that he might succeed in his cause, no matter the cost. Perhaps he is not yet so bad, but this is a slippery slope and he needs to be stopped! If we have a hope in hell of defeating Voldemort, we need someone who is actually good leading us. Someone we can trust!” Hermione snaps, the three fall silent again.

“I think, that we need to know more. More of what he’s done, more of what he is going to do, and more of why he’s doing it,” Harry tells them calmly, they nod.

That night, Harry wears his invisibility cloak out to the Whomping Willow, pulling on his Inimicus outfit once there, and shrinking the invisibility cloak to fit in his pocket. A few minutes later, Snape walks down to the tree. Harry switches on his voice disguiser, hidden under the black cloak of his outfit, before looking up to him.

“You would be Inimicus.”

“I am,” He says, his voice sounding techno garbled. In the dark and with the outfit, the effect is rather creepy, but Severus Snape feels no fear.

“You wanted to speak with me?”

“I rather thought you’d like to speak with me. My Reapers told me of your interaction, they felt you may be more willing to help if you had the chance to speak with me directly.” 

Snape looks considering at him, trying to work out who it is he is talking to, and unable to, for Harry was holding himself completely differently to how he is prone.

“Indeed. I have some questions.”

“So ask them.”

“Why do you want to kill Dumbledore?” Snape asks without preamble.

“He’s a liar, he’s manipulative, and he does not care at all for the people he is meant to protect. The world is not kind, sometimes things do not go as you plan them, it is long past time Albus Dumbledore learnt this.” 

Snape has to agree with this assessment, but he is not yet ready to stop questioning this. “Many have tried, why do you, a schoolboy, think you can stop him when so many others have failed?”

“Because I am not an idiot. They have tried hard to kill him, or they have tried to destroy him. Only a fool would neglect to do both.”

“And why is that?”

“Because if it were easy to kill him it would have happened long ago. He has too much power, too many people backing him up, and too stable a ground beneath his feet. His empire must be brought crashing to the ground around him before people will allow him to die. But were he left like that, he would simply build it all back up again, he is a patient man after all. He must be destroyed to be killed, and he must be killed to ever truly be destroyed,” Inimicus replies coolly.

“How do you plan on doing this?”

“By telling everyone the truth.”

“And they will believe it, will they?”

“When I’m through, yes, they will,” He tells Snape strongly and without doubt, “It is time to decide Severus, will you join me?”

“What will you do if I don’t? By now I know far too much of your plans to simply be let go.”

Inimicus chuckles, which comes out rather horrifically through the voice disguiser. “You are not a prisoner here, Severus, we are merely beneath a tree. But should you decide not to join me in this venture, you will find yourself sorely lacking any knowledge pertaining to it,” He tells the other man calmly.

Snape has to admit, he’s impressed. This was not what he was expecting. “Tell me one more thing, Inimicus.”

“That will depend on what it is you ask.”

“Did you, or any of your Reapers, kill Danielle Smigin?”

“No.” 

Snape still believes that they had something to do with the incident, but he also believes the boy before him speaks the truth. Clearly, there was more to all of this than meets the eye, all he does know is, he wants in.

“Dumbledore failed to protect people I cared for deeply, then failed to imprison the one who betrayed them.”

“Am I to take that as your answer?”

“I will join you, _if_ you help me prove Peter Pettigrew betrayed the Potters. I have a plan, but there’s a problem.”

Inimicus frowns beneath his mask, “Which is?”

“It will require Harry Potter’s help, and informed people believe he will be unwilling to do so given the nature of what he would need to do. Get him to help and I will join you,” Severus tells Inimicus, keeping a straight face through all.

“What is it he needs to do?”

“We need to show his memories before a court when we call a retrial. With some strings pulled I can get the retrial called, but he will need to allow his memories of the night James and Lily Potter died and the night Cedric Diggory died to be viewed. I got the impression from two of your Reapers that he’s within your ranks, this could be an excellent test of loyalty to you and your cause.”

Inimicus is silent as Harry thinks this over. He really does not want to. Were it not for Snape’s offer of loyalty, he may have refused to do so. But Dumbledore must fall, and Snape can help. That _has_ to be all that matters.

“While I can neither confirm nor deny Mr Potter’s involvement in this, I _can_ guarantee his assistance in your case. He’s being told of your plan by his peers at breakfast tomorrow, at lunch he will agree if he does not simply decide on his own to do so.”

Severus raises an eyebrow, looking rather unconvinced, “We shall see.”

Once back in the Gryffindor common room, Harry gets out his enchanted parchment and sends a message to Blaise.

_Bring up your plan for catching Pettigrew at breakfast, get the conversation started but allow Mio to take over._

_~ I_

Then he looks around the common room and decides everyone has been too serious lately and needs something to…liven them up a little. He smirks and gets to work.

Harry makes sure to wake up before anyone else and heads down to breakfast where only two other students, both Ravenclaws, are awake.

Slowly others trickle in, but as of yet, no Gryffindors.

“Where is everyone?” Cho asks as she takes a seat at the Gryffindor table, more commonly thought of as the ‘main table’ now.

“I’m not sure,” Pansy replies, looking around as she tries to work out who is not present, then it clicks and she turns to Harry. “Harry, why are you the only one of your house present? Including Professor McGonagall?”

“I’ve no idea,” He says, seeming just as surprised as the others. Those that stayed behind over the holidays aren’t convinced.

Five minutes later McGonagall arrives, taking her seat at the teachers’ table, but calling out from there, “Potter?”

“Yes, Professor?”

“Detention. For two weeks.”

“Yes, Professor.” Then the Gryffindors arrive.

“You. Utter. Bastard,” Dean says, glaring at Harry as everyone takes their seats.

Harry smiles innocently, “I was just trying to lighten the mood, everyone’s been _so_ ser-…depressing, of late,” Harry tells them, but the innocent effect is lost when he stumbles over the word serious.

“Harrison James, it took me half an hour to work out what was wrong, it’s been two hours since we started trying to fix it, and we still don’t think it’s done!” Hermione tells him, looking pissed off, “I hate you, I completely and utterly hate you.”

“Love you too, sis.” She tries to stay angry, but she’s too happy to have family for it to work. She sighs and starts eating her food. No one else looks to be letting it go any time soon.

“What did you do?” Draco asks him.

Harry chuckles, “I just rearranged the common room, only slightly though, they were small changes, really.”

“And by that, he means he moved everything, by about 5 inches. It’s all the same, that’s why we didn’t see it at first, but the sameness is in the wrong place,” Ron explains, sounding aggravated and tired. 

Ginny is the only one who doesn’t look annoyed, in fact she seems to think it was bloody brilliant. “I’m writing to George about that, he’ll have a bloody meltdown,” She tells Ron who starts laughing.

“Why?” Lavender asks.

Ginny chuckles, “He and Fred had an argument a few years ago, which was terrifying for all of us, they didn’t speak for over a month.” Everyone looks horrified at the idea of the twins being so at odds. “They started playing practical jokes on each other, but not particularly funny ones since they were genuinely angry. By this point, Fred was sleeping in the attic so as not to be forced into dealing with George so frequently. Had moved most of his stuff up there and single-handedly cleaned the entire thing just so that Mum would let him remain. While George was helping Dad and I de-gnome the garden, he moved everything in the bedroom by an inch. It all looked so similar that George could not work out what was going on, but in a room that small it made a difference and he kept failing to navigate the room. He was walking into things, getting lost in his own room, it wasn’t until after they made up that Fred sheepishly explained what he’d done and put it all back. George spent another twenty-four hours not talking to him.”

“Is that where you got the idea?” Neville asks Harry who shakes his head.

“No, actually, your Father gave it to me, sort of. Andromeda Tonks and I write to each other, have since Remus stayed with them for a few months. She told me about a letter she’d gotten from her cousin Regulus once many years ago, his brother, Sirius, and his brother’s best friend, James, were freaking out because they’d been out pranked by Frank who had moved all the posters on their dorm walls slightly to the left and used a particularly cumbersome sticking charm. Every time they moved them back, they’d be back in the wrong place almost immediately. It was years before they found out Remus and Severus had been moving them back with non-verbal spells.” 

Blaise clears his throat as everyone else laughs, “Speaking of Sirius Black…” He looks to Hermione who seems nervous, but nods.

“We came up with a plan over the holidays, we can prove that he’s innocent and Pettigrew is guilty, but we need your help.”

Harry looks shocked but hopeful, “Of course, anything, what’s the plan?” He asks, sounding genuinely ecstatic at the idea, like he wants that almost more than anything.

Hermione exchanges hopeful looks with the others, “Your memory of the attack at Godric’s Hollow and of you-know-who being brought back shown in a pensieve at a trial,” She tells him.

His face falls as he pales. Harry stands, looking shaky, “No.”

“Harry, please –”

“No, I-I’m sorry, Mio, no.”

“Harry, the world thinks my Dad betrayed Aunt Lily and Uncle James, I can’t let them keep thinking that!” She tells him, also standing. Many around them, seeing as most don’t know of their parentage, look very surprised and confused, namely Draco.

“You think I want them to? He’s my Dad too, Hermione! I-I can’t go through that again, and I won’t. Besides, there are some things I just don’t need to see. Whatever happened that night at Godric’s Hollow is at the top of that list,” He tells her harshly as he steps away from the table, “I’m sorry,” He says again before he leaves the room.

Hermione sits back down, looking crestfallen.

“He might still come around,” Suse tries to reassure her.

Hermione shakes her head, “You don’t know him like I do, once he’s made up his mind, it doesn’t change.”

“You and I both know that isn’t him making up his mind, that’s him not being ready to deal with it,” Ron tells her.

She nods as Pansy rubs soothing circles on her back.

“I hope you’re right.”

Harry doesn’t speak at all during lessons, then disappears for half of lunch. Really he’s just sitting in the Chamber in Salazar’s office, going through his desk draws. The blood magic seal Pansy and Blaise have been working on had given him the key to opening the previously locked desk, his blood. Upon opening it, he finds an old leather-bound book.

It’s all written in Latin, but he recognises the lay out of it, plus there’s more than a few ripped pages throughout the book. This is the diary of Salazar Slytherin, this could provide the answers to many of the questions they’d all had.

Of course, to get a translation, he either needs to get Severus to help, risky given the current state of things, or get Pansy to, which would mean filling her in on Order business. 

Ultimately, he decides, he’s not a part of the Order, and Remus is one of his now. His Father is targeting him still, Harry needs to find out why to call it off and protect his people.

Harry puts the book away, getting out his enchanted paper, he writes a message to Pansy.

_A,_

_I have a task for you._

_Graveyard @4am_

_I_

She replies within a minute.

_Yes, Sir_

He then gets out a piece of parchment and uses the desk to write out a letter to his Father.

_Father,_

_A great many things have just come to light, not the least of which is the compulsory element to the curriculum of a family tree being created._

_Just thought I should prepare you for that._

_Also, I_ _’_ _d like to talk to you about my Uncle._

_Your Son,_

_Harry_

He hurries to the Owlery and sends it off immediately with Hedwig. Then he goes to lunch.

“Hey, where’ve you been, Mate?” Ron asks him as he takes a seat.

Instead of replying, Harry just looks to his sister. “All right Mio, I’ll do it.”

She seems shocked, but then her face breaks out in a huge grin and she flings herself at him, hugging him tightly, “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, that’s what siblings are for, right?”

“I’m going to talk to Draco after dinner, come with me?” She whisper-asks, he nods, she smiles. They both sit back down and start eating.

Severus watches from the table as Harry asks how exactly they plan to get a trial and they explain that they haven’t gotten that far yet. Draco looks to his Father who gives him a nod, he then tells the others that there would be a trial, and the others seem to immediately have a far higher opinion of their DADA teacher.

What interests Severus the most is the fact that his nephew is doing this at all. He had been emphatically against it only a few hours ago, this Inimicus seems to hold more sway than he had believed. But what is Harry’s involvement in all of this? He’d never join a man who wants to kill Albus, unless Blaise was right? Severus sighs, looking at Harry, Hermione, and Neville, and remembering when things were simpler, and they’d just watch Bambi endlessly.

Severus blinks and looks around, suddenly finding himself in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic. Before him stands Remus facing off against Sirius.

 _How is this possible? Sirius is dead! I can_ _’_ _t have a vision of the future with a dead man in it!_ Severus thinks to himself.

“I won’t fight you, Moony,” Sirius tells Remus.

Remus sneers at him, “Which will only serve to make it far easier for me to take you down. I warned you, you won’t get away with any of it.”

Sirius shakes his head sadly, “This won’t change what I did. Please, you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes,” Remus says, “I do.” Remus thrusts a hand out towards him, “ _Avada Kedavra!_ ” He casts. The vision disappears instantly and Severus sees only the Great Hall once more. 

Severus puts a solid minute of intense concentration into keeping his breathing even and not throwing up. He blinks away tears of shock and fright and confusion, eventually able to release the death grip he has on his goblet. He swallows harshly, finally able to create a coherent thought.

_What the bloody hell was that about?_


	17. Here's to Us

Chapter 16 – Here’s To Us

Note: Chapter Title from Haelstorm’s song ‘Here’s To Us’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“_ _Anything for you, that_ _’_ _s what siblings are for, right?_ _”_

_“_ _I_ _’_ _m going to talk to Draco after dinner, come with me?_ _”_ _She whisper-asks, he nods, she smiles._

Now,

“Malfoy!” Harry calls as he and Hermione jog out of the hall.

Draco turns around, walking back down the few steps he’d climbed, “Potter?”

“Mind if we have a word?”

Draco frowns but follows the two into an empty classroom. “What’s this about?” He asks.

Harry turns to Hermione who looks nervous and fiddles with a piece of parchment.

“I discovered something over the holidays, something I think you should see too,” She explains, he crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow at her, she just hands the parchment over to him. He unfolds it and looks over it for a solid minute. Then he starts walking out of the room, Harry grabs his arm to stop him walking away.

“Release me, now.”

“Where are you going?”

“To ask my Father how exactly it is I have a sister who was born to a different Mother yet within the time of his marriage.” Hermione looks aghast, she finally finds her family and it turns out she was an accident? Born from an affair? No wonder she ended up in foster care. 

Harry frowns, “That hadn’t occurred to us. Look, Hermione hasn’t decided whether or not to tell Lord Malfoy, and I think it should be her decision to make,” He explains.

Draco turns around quick enough to wrench his arm free and faces Hermione. “What do you mean you haven’t decided yet? You’re his daughter, he should know you exist. More importantly, he’s your Father, you should know your Father.”

“It’s not that simple, Malfoy!” Hermione tells him.

“Draco.”

Hermione looks startled, “What?”

“You’re my sister, you can call me Draco,” He reiterates, she smiles shyly and nods. “Now why isn’t it that simple?”

“Because…” She trails off, flushing slightly.

Draco frowns. He checks the hallway before closing the door, casting a silencing charm, and pulling a chair over to sit on in front of the one Hermione had sat on when he tried to leave. “Uncle Remus calls me Little Dragon because Draco means dragon and I was a short kid. I used to think it made me sound fierce and now I hate it being said in public because it’s embarrassing, but I don’t mind it in private because it reminds me that he cares about me, that he’s stuck around my whole life even though I’ve been a bit of a dick in recent years. Ever since the Death Eaters started trying to find him the only time I’ve been able to see him was when he was here and I hate it.” Hermione and Harry exchange confused looks, Draco continues, “I’m the one who put the page about Basilisks in your bag in second year. I was trying to stop it before something happened that Father would never forgive himself for. It was just after Mother died, I don’t know what he was thinking, but that summer I told him what I had done and told him to get help or he’d lose me too, then went and stayed with Uncle Remus and Uncle Sev for the night.” By this point, the other two were watching him in a sort of morbid fascination, though both were beginning to suspect why he was doing this. “Also, I’ve been having dreams for as long as I can remember about a girl I love more than anything. Not in a romantic way, but in a sort of familial way. It developed into me seeing her during the day as well, it happens in episodes and leaves me very vulnerable. It wasn’t until earlier this year that I realised the girl is you. I didn’t know why, now I guess I do. I think it has something to do with my being an Empath.”

“You’re an Empath?” Harry asks, Draco nods, looking vulnerable. 

Hermione bites her lip but nods, “I’ve been bounced around so much throughout my life, I’m afraid he’ll reject me too.”

“Why would he reject you?”

She sighs, “I was raised by muggles and currently live with them, I’m a Lesbian, I have a police record and terrible school records, I’m sneaky, I lie, I’m more trouble than I’m worth, I hang out with sketchy people, I get in trouble by pulling stupid stunts, and I’m just not good with people. Hell, I was a drug addict until 5 months ago.”

“Hey, you’ve done so well since then!” Harry reminds her. She nods, smiling gratefully at him.

Draco thinks it through and nods, looking thoughtful as he takes her hands and leans forward to look in her eyes. “I’m Gay, Harry’s mentioned homophobia in the Muggle world, but it’s really not a thing in the wizarding one. Your previous school records may not be great but your time here has been exemplary. We’re a family of Slytherins, he’s not going to look down on you for being sneaky or a good liar, he’ll praise you for it, and he spends a lot of time with the sketchiest people in existence, save for maybe Dumbledore. As for getting in trouble for pulling stupid stunts, he’s been friends with Remus Lupin and Severus Snape since they were kids. More importantly, he’s allowed Harry to live with us, I think his penchant for dealing with reckless people doing stupid things is pretty good.” Harry huffs and rolls his eyes but doesn’t disagree. “He’s terrible with people. He can do the whole pureblood elegance thing but being an empath, which is hereditary by the way, he’s where I got it from, makes it very difficult to deal with people. Oh and, as far as police records go, you really ought to ask Uncle Remus about his own record some time. Plus, he’s been dealing with Uncle Remus’ alcoholism for literally longer than we’ve all been alive. I mean, I’m sure he’ll be glad it’s not an issue anymore but, I’m just saying, he’s not going to look down on you for an addiction.” 

Hermione calms down with everything he ticks off her list of perceived flaws, by the end she’s even smiling slightly. Then she frowns again, “And the raised by muggles thing?”

Draco looks to be thinking intensely for a moment, “Come with me, both of you.”

“Where to?”

“To see Father, don’t worry, we won’t tell him if you don’t want to. I’m going to project a type of shielding around the both of you so that he can’t sense your emotions, but if it’s there too long he’ll notice. The important thing is to look as impassive as possible so the difference isn’t obvious, more than anything, no matter what I say, don’t look surprised, okay?” Draco asks as he drags the two along with him, Harry and Hermione shrug at each other.

“Okay,” Hermione says. 

They reach Lucius’ office, Draco knocks on the door before walking in.

“Draco, Harry, Miss Willows, what can I do for you?” Lucius asks, looking away from his work.

“Father, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, Harry and Mio finally convinced me to.”

Lucius raises as eyebrow as he gestures for them to take a seat, immediately putting his work away to give his son his full attention, “Go on,” He directs.

Draco takes a deep breath, wondering how intelligent this course of action is and wondering if he’s been spending too much time with Gryffindors. “I think I’m in love,” He begins slowly, Lucius looks unsurprised, “With a muggleborn.”

His Father freezes, even his hair seems to stop moving with the breeze from the open window. After a solid thirty seconds he clears his throat as he pulls his work out again, “I’d like to meet his parents, ensure certain situations with muggles that we’ve seen before aren’t occurring,” Lucius tells his son, all present know he means Harry’s relatives. “They aren’t ever coming to our house,” He adds, giving Draco a stern look, “You know how I feel about exposing Muggles to magic, even if they _are_ already aware of it.” 

Draco nods, “That’s it?”

Lucius raises an eyebrow at him, “Were you expecting something else?”

Draco frowns, not faking anymore, “I mean, I was expecting you to ask for a name but, no complaints I suppose.” 

Lucius huffs suddenly, “There is something else, actually,” He tells him, digging around in a desk draw for a moment before handing a piece of paper over. A quick glance shows it’s a questionnaire of sorts, Draco looks at his Father in confusion. “Remus gave one to Severus when you began Hogwarts and gave Severus a copy to give to me at the beginning of the term. He knew neither of us would interrogate you because unlike him we do not feel the need to endlessly pry, so he made a pre-planned interrogation that he wants sent to him as soon as something of this sort happens.”

Draco sighs shaking his head, “You know, I’m not even surprised.”

“Sir, while we’re here, would you mind looking at something I’m working on for charms class? I want to make sure I’ve done it right before we do it during the lesson,” Hermione suddenly blurts out.

Lucius seems surprised but nods. “Of course.” She subtly takes the family tree from Draco’s hand before handing it over. 

He taps the page with his wand, nodding that the spell has been done correctly. Lucius then unfolds it and looks at it, reading for a few seconds before he looks up in surprise, “Is this why you insisted on having Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape review your ability to handle a Boggart?” Hermione nods, Lucius’ face softens, “You’ve nothing to be afraid of, I’m only sorry I didn’t know.”

“Professor Snape said she’d kept it a secret for my safety and for yours, that Voldemort might try to go after us, go after you, if he knew about your…encounter, with Mum.” 

Lucius clears his throat as he links his hands together on the desk before him, “Yes, he very likely would, he loved your Mother very much.”

“Then why did he do everything he’s done? He must have known he’d lose her,” Hermione asks.

Lucius frowns, “Albus hasn’t…told you, he hasn’t told you?! You could have died, both of you could have!” He cries in outrage, all three teenagers look very confused, he sighs, “The first war against the Dark Lord began in 1970. Did none of you question how on earth that can be when Tom Riddle is three years younger than I am?”

“To be honest, I’ve never actually bothered looking into the history of Voldemort. I mean he tried to kill me, I didn’t really need more than that to plant myself firmly against him. Little did I know…” Harry says, muttering the last part as he looks at the family tree.

“The original Dark Lord was a man named Roana Gaunt, Tom’s Uncle on his Mother’s side. For a number of reasons, none of which I am going in to for fear of losing my head, Tom didn’t know who his Uncle was, much less the… _career_ he’d chosen to pursue. As it turns out, Gaunt was possessed by some Non-Human Spiritous Apparition, we don’t know what it is or how it is doing so, but after Remus killed Gaunt, it possessed Tom.”

“But he died when I was a baby, does that mean it’s not him and it’s just the apparition?” Harry asks.

Lucius shakes his head, “No, it is him. I don’t really know how, I imagine the other side would know more, but I don’t care to pry into it. It’s a recipe for trouble, one I recommend you all avoid.” 

Draco nods his agreement, Harry and Hermione exchange thoughtful looks, Draco sighs, “You aren’t letting this go, are you?”

“I did warn you I’m more trouble than I’m worth.”

“I want to know what’s possessing my Father and why.”

“You’re both going to get me killed.” The two look at him in surprise, he rolls his eyes, “I’m hardly going to leave you to do this yourselves. We ought to bring Pans and Zi into it.”

“If the me from a year ago could see me now I would so be getting hexed,” Harry mutters, “We should involve Ron and Ginny too.”

“Yes but, involve them in what? I doubt we’re going to find what we need in the library,” Hermione points out.

Draco frowns, “Uncle Remus might know something, he obviously knew your Father, I doubt he _hasn_ _’_ _t_ looked into it, if only to see if he could be saved.”

“Hagrid and my Father went to school together, he might know something,” Harry adds.

“Do you really think he’ll tell you though?”

“Not purposely but yes,” Harry replies.

Draco sighs, “Blasted giant.”

“Half-giant,” Hermione corrects, Draco glares at her, she lifts her chin and glares back, he rolls his eyes but backs down.

“That Lovegood girl knows about all sorts, she might know of something that can do this,” He tells them, they nod.

“What about Professor Binns? Or one of the other ghosts, maybe Peeves? He ought to know something, right?” Hermione asks.

Draco snorts, “You really think Peeves will _help_?”

She shakes her head, smirking smugly, “Us? No, but I know who he _will_ help.”

“Oh my god…” Harry suddenly says, eyes wide.

“Harry?” Draco asks.

Harry grins manically, “Oh I have a fantastically insane idea. But about something entirely different. I have to go. You two go recruit the others, Hermione, you go to Hagrid, get Ron and Blaise to speak to Luna, Draco, find Ginny and go to Remus, I need Pansy to come with me. We’ll meet in the kitchens afterwards, agreed?”

“Have you forgotten that you are all meant to be in class right now?” Lucius asks, the other three having forgotten he was there at all.

“Actually, we all have a free period,” Hermione tells him, Lucius raises an eyebrow at her, clearly disbelieving, she nods her head. “Luna is the only one who doesn’t, she’s in Herbology with Neville. Luckily, Sprout doesn’t mind people sitting in on her lessons, provided they do the same work as everyone else. As I recall, while hating it all, Ron is actually pretty good at Herbology, and Blaise was one of Sprout’s favourite students, so neither will be in trouble for disrupting the class by asking Luna some questions,” Hermione assures him, he looks as though he’d be sighing were he anyone else.

“Where the blasted hell is the kitchen?” Draco asks, Lucius clears his throat pointedly. “Where in Merlin’s name is the kitchen?” Draco amends, looking a second away from rolling his eyes.

“Ginny knows where, just remind her to tickle it don’t jab at it. Girl does not have a gentle bone in her body, honestly,” Harry explains with a fond shake of the head.

“You two go on ahead, I’ll head to Hagrid’s in a moment,” Hermione tells them. Draco and Harry exchange glances before looking between their sister and Lucius, then they look to each other again.

“All right,” Harry says at last, the two leave.

“Hang on, how am I getting to Uncle Remus’?” Draco asks as they close the door.

“There’s a secret tunnel underneath a statue, leads straight into the basement of Honeydukes. Gin knows the way.” Draco nods, they both sit on the floor, waiting for their shared sister to emerge.

“So um…about…all this,” Hermione begins, waving her hand at the family tree still on his desk. He looks up at her, giving her his full attention. She sighs, “I-I don’t really know where to go from here.” 

Lucius nods, “It is an odd situation. What happens from here is up to you but, I would like to know my daughter, to know who you are and how you’ve grown.”

Hermione feels tears filling her eyes and refuses to allow them to fall, “I’d like that too. It’s just, the Willows, they’ve been so nice to me and…I don’t want to lose them. It hasn’t been long but despite having just lost the Grangers, I actually thought maybe this home will work out.”

Lucius smiles gently, “Perhaps you should write to your parents, tell them what you know and find out what they think?”

Hermione looks at him in shock, “You-You’d be okay with that?”

“They’re your family, I will never try to come between that,” He promises.

She nods, looking calmer, “Thank you, for…everything I guess. I was pretty nervous about telling you and I have a whole history of some stuff that made this difficult, but you’ve been really brilliant about it all so um, thanks,” She says awkwardly.

He nods, “I’m glad to know about you, Hermione.” She smiles, quite a blindingly beautiful genuine one. Lucius can see she has her Mother’s smile, just as she has her Mother’s eyes. It’s quite odd really, Del had green eyes, just as both her children do, yet Harry’s are quite obviously of Lily Evans’ genetics, which is confusing for two reasons. The first being, he’s not related to her how is that possible, the second being, why is it so obviously hers? Is there a spell or something? Why would anyone do that? The answer becomes clear…Dumbledore.

“I’m glad to know about you too,” She responds, bringing his focus back to the present. He nods and smiles at her as she leaves, her family tree still on the desk before him.

“Hey, you okay?” Harry asks as she closes the door.

She turns to see the two rising from the floor and smiles, nodding, “Yeah, I am. Thank you, Draco, for what you did.”

He gives an elegant smile, linking her arm with his. “Anytime, Mio.”

“You know he still thinks you’re in love with a Muggle-born, right?” Harry asks after they’ve been walking for a few moments.

“Fuck me,” Draco mutters as he facepalms.

“I beg your pardon, Mr Malfoy?”

Draco’s head snaps up to see Minerva looking at him disapprovingly, his eyes widen, “I uh, Professor…” He trails off.

“Professor, I assure you, that was a perfectly understandable reaction even if it wasn’t a good one,” Hermione tells her teacher, trying to look trustworthy.

“And what is it you were reacting to?” Minerva asks expectantly.

Draco winces, “My Father thinks I’m in love with a Muggle-born.” She looks at him, equal parts incredulous and pissed off. “I didn’t mean for that to come out the way it sounded,” He immediately says, she doesn’t look impressed.

“It was part of a prank, but the second part failed. See there were these feather time bombs but the timing was wrong, it was meant to go off but it didn’t so now he thinks Draco meant it,” Harry suddenly blurts out, wincing at his own words.

Minerva just sighs, shaking her head, “I’m warning you now, if you three are teaming up for such practical jokes, I will _not_ have another Marauder situation on my hands, am. I. Clear?”

“Well of course not, we could never live up to that name, we’re more like…the Junior Marauders or Marauders 2nd Gen, Marauders Legatee or progeny…”

“Quiverful?” Hermione offers, he looks confused, “Large number of offspring,” She explains.

“Wow, actually that’s a pretty good name,” Harry tells them, looking impressed, “Only works if we get Neville involved as well, and Ginny. Don’t think it’s really Ron’s sort of thing but hey, I’ve been wrong before.” Minerva sighs, shaking her head and just walking away.

“You realise we now have to _actually_ prank Professor Malfoy with feathers, right? Make it look like it went off but at the wrong time,” Hermione says.

Harry sighs, “Ginny has a giant bag of Orange Feathers, I’ll get her help.”

“Why does she have a giant- you know what, I don’t want to know,” Draco decides, “Let’s just go, before either of you come up with any other clever ideas to get us –”

“Killed?” Harry asks, “Or worse, _expelled_?!”

“ _HARRISON JAMES RIDDLE-POTTER-BLACK DO YOU THINK YOU_ _’_ _RE FUNNY?! BECAUSE YOU AREN_ _’_ _T FUNNY! YOU_ _’_ _RE AN ANNOYING LITTLE SHI- DON_ _’_ _T YOU RUN AWAY FROM ME!_ ” Hermione screams as she chases him down a corridor, Draco looking confused but jogging after them.

“What is going on?” Ron asks as Harry opens the portrait to the Gryffindor common room and sprints in, closely followed by Hermione. Draco leans against the open portrait way, staying firmly on the outside, he looks around in surprise.

“So this is what hell looks like,” He comments, the entire common room looks at him in shock. _Draco Malfoy_ is standing outside the Gryffindor common room…the _fuck_?!

“Hey, we can test our hypothesis!” Dean says happily.

Seamus nods enthusiastically, “Malfoy, come step in here,” Seamus calls.

Draco raises an eyebrow, “Why would I do that?”

“We want to know what happens when we dare a Slytherin to do something, we think the particular something will have them warring against themselves until they just break down,” Dean explains.

“Why would I volunteer to this?”

“Please?” Seamus asks, Draco scowls. “One dare, come on, scared, Malfoy?”

Draco’s face twitches slightly, “Dare me from here,” Draco replies challengingly, the two seem oddly pleased with that and speak in sync when they answer.

“We dare you to sit on the couch,” They tell him, pointing to the one by the fire place. The occupants of the room keep looking between Dean, Seamus, and Draco as a stand off begins. The former two looking challenging as Draco doesn’t move a muscle except for the occasional face twitch.

To refuse is to back down, Slytherins are ambitious for a reason, when a challenge is set, they just can’t leave it alone. But no way in hell he is setting foot in the Gryffindor common room, _No. Way._ Thus the freezing, he can’t do it, he can’t _not_ do it.

“Erm, Draco?” Harry asks, walking back over and waving a hand in front of his face, he just keeps staring at the beforementioned couch, a grimace slowly appearing on his face.

“What did you two do to him?” Pavarti Patil asks, Dean and Seamus just look amused and smug.

“Draco, forget the dare, you don’t have to do it,” Hermione tells him, he looks horrified at her, then back to the couch, a strange whine sound coming from his throat.

“How dare you suggest a Slytherin would back down from a challenge?” Seamus asks.

Dean chuckles, “Yet how dare we entertain the thought of one entering the _Gryffindor_ common room and sitting on the couch in front of the fire, such a _familiar_ setting, like sitting with family, a _Gryffindor_ family.”

“Oh, so you think he’s a coward and won’t do it?” Seamus asks.

Dean snorts, “Not at all, but I think his Slytherin pride is stronger than you give it credit for.” The two continue back and forth like this, Draco just seems to be breaking apart at the seams. Then he stops, he stands up straighter, and steps inside the room, he cringes more with every step, but he’s started now, he can’t stop. He’s scrunched his eyes mostly shut, only open enough to see. Keeping his hands close to his sides so as not to touch anything.

“Oh for god’s sake, Malfoy, are you _that_ much of a coward?” Ginny demands from a corner of the room. Draco glares at her and stalks over to the couch, sitting down in an elegant huff, she smirks, “So were you guys here for a reason?” She asks.

Harry nods, “Yes, actually, Ron, Ginny, come with us,” He requests, “Come on, Malfoy, we’re leaving.” Draco practically bolts out of the room, leaving a laughing common room behind, yet he’s laughing too. That had been fun, exhilarating even. He’s never been one to break the rules, to not do as he’s told, well, apart from that time he aided a fugitive. He uses the boundaries to get other people in trouble, not risk it himself, it’s certainly a rush.

“What’s going on?” Ginny asks curiously when she bores of laughing at Draco.

“We need your help with something, well, they do. I’ll go on ahead,” Hermione says, waving goodbye and heading off to Hagrid’s.

“Weaslette, you and I are going to see Uncle Remus,” Draco informs her, she shrugs and starts walking down the stairs. Draco chuckles, “Doesn’t question a thing,” He mutters as he follows after her.

“And what are we doing?” Ron asks Harry.

“We are heading to the Slytherin Common Room, but first, I need to fill you in on something.” Ron frowns but follows Harry as he walks into a nearby secret passageway.

“What’s going on?”

“I can’t explain everything, but I will be later tonight. For now, there is more to the issues with Dumbledore than Hermione is aware. A lot more going on than just that as well, so I need you to trust me.” Ron’s frown deepens as he nods. “I need you and Blaise to go question Luna, she’s in Herbology. Find out if she knows of anything that can possess someone fully but also corrupt someone’s mind. They need to be able to intertwine themselves with a soul so that even after death and possessing someone or something else, the host remains a part of them. And I _need_ _to know_ if it’s reversible.”

“What the fuck have you gotten yourself into, Mate?”

Harry sighs, “You’ve no idea, my friend. But like I said, I’ll explain later.”

Ron nods, “Later then, let’s just get to the Slytherin Common Room and grab the arsehole.”

The two head down to the dungeons, walking up to the wall behind which the Slytherin Common Room lies.

“Harry,” Ron suddenly says, grabbing his friend’s arm and stopping him from saying the password Hermione had given him, “Do you think the door would respond to a Parselmouth?”

Harry looks a little surprised, “I hadn’t thought of that, _Open_.” A door opens, but not the one they’d been looking for.

“Bloody hell,” Ron says after poking his head through the door way, he walks in, closely followed by Harry. It seems like an observation room of some kind, they can see into the common room, but no one in the common room can see them.

“…so…Salazar Slytherin was a pervert?” Harry asks warily.

Ron frowns, “I wish I could laugh but I’m honestly thinking so.”

“There’s a door there,” Harry points out, gesturing to the door knob beside Ron. Harry shuts the door to the passageway as Ron opens that door, the two walk directly into the common room causing a first year to scream when the chair she was sitting on moved and the entire common room to look over.

“Well, we know where that goes now,” Harry comments, Ron nods.

“What are _you_ two doing here?” Knott asks, Ron opens his mouth to respond but Harry shakes his head at him.

“Professor Malfoy wants to see you two,” Harry tells Blaise and Pansy who had been sitting on the couch. The two seem confused but go with the Gryffindors without a fuss.

“So what’s really going on, Potter?” Blaise asks once the door shuts behind them, continuing to follow the two down the hallway.

“Riddle-Potter-Black.”

“What?” Blaise asks, pretending to be confused.

Harry sighs, “My name, it’s Riddle-Potter-Black, not Potter.”

“Well which do you want to use?” Pansy asks him.

Harry smirks, “I quite like the idea of forcing everyone to say all three.”

“Definitely a Black,” The two Slytherins say in sync, Harry and Ron look at them in confusion.

“Dray’s mother used to tell us stories about her family, the ones she was close to anyway. All the younger ones seemed to enjoy making things unnecessarily difficult for people. Her younger sister and oldest cousin especially.”

“I have no idea who either of them are,” Ron admits, looking to Harry who seems sad.

“Bellatrix Lestrange and Sirius,” He explains. He shakes off his melancholy, he’d promised Bellatrix he’d make it all worth it in the end, which means getting this done not feeling sorry for himself. “All right, Zabini, Hermione is Draco’s sister, in telling their Father this, some other things were revealed, things we’re trying to get an explanation for. He and Ginny have gone to see Remus to try and get some answers, Mio’s gone to Hagrid, I need you and Ron to go question Luna.”

Blaise looks suspicious, “About what?”

“Ron knows what to ask.”

Ron rolls his eyes, “Hear the careful wording there? Coz I know what to ask, but I dunno what this is about any more than you do.” He then turns to Harry. “Don’t forget, you promised you’d explain _everything_ tonight.”

“I know.” 

Ron turns, heading down the corridor, Blaise mouths his question to Harry, ‘Everything?’ Harry nods, Blaise frowns, looking at Ron’s retreating figure for a moment before looking back, ‘Mio?’

Harry nods again, ‘Ginny too.’ Blaise’s frown deepens for a moment before he nods, and for some reason, Harry genuinely believes that Blaise approves this course of action. Blaise follows Ron whilst Pansy turns to face Harry.

“So what are _we_ doing, oh wise one?”

Harry looks amused, “What a brilliant segue.” Pansy raises an eyebrow at him. “ _Open_.” Harry leads Pansy back into the corridor he and Ron had walked through and shuts the door behind him.

“How long have you known about this place?!” Pansy demands, feeling violated.

Harry shakes his head, “Only about five minutes, I swear. I told you I have another task for you, I wasn’t expecting it to be time sensitive, but I got an idea and it links. However, in telling you this, I need to tell you some details about Dumbledore’s side of the war, are you prepared to hear that?” Pansy nods. “Good, because you didn’t really have a choice.”

“Figures.”

“A year ago, Remus’ house was raided, only he wasn’t home, but Sirius was. Lord Malfoy found him but didn’t rat him out, instead he gave him a warning. That’s how Remus knew they were after him, and that’s how we found out what my Father wants, that’s how we got this,” He explains, handing over a piece of Parchment, onto which he’d copied the section of the diary of Salazar Slytherin that Lucius had given Sirius, now written in its original Latin along with the English translation. “I brought this with me in the hope that the answers would just sort of appear like they usually do,” He adds.

Pansy looks amused by him but also enraptured by the page she holds, “And have they?”

“I found the rest of the diary, I need you to translate it.” Pansy looks thoughtful, nodding as she reads over the diary entries. “There may be some written Parseltongue around the place so, don’t just pass scribbles off as scribbles. Anyway, that’s not what we’re doing right now.”

“Then what _are_ we doing right now?”

“That diary belongs to Salazar Slytherin,” Harry tells her.

Her eyes widen, “I knew those names seemed familiar,” She mutters to herself, looking at the names of his children, “Blaise read it out, a foreword in a book, wondering who they were.”

Harry grins, “I love your eidetic memory. Ron, Mio, and I all thought they were familiar, none of us had placed it yet though. Do you know which book?”

Pansy frowns, shaking her head, “No, I never saw it, my Father, Sev, and I were teaching Sevrin to play chess so I didn’t look up when Blaise said it.”

“Perhaps Blaise will remember,” Harry comments, not even questioning who Sevrin is. “Anyway, Slytherin doesn’t seem the type to leave written evidence of who he’s running from lying around, not even in his own secret chamber, so I don’t think we’ll find out from the rest of the diary.”

“Then what do you suggest?” She asks, looking heavily invested.

He smiles in a rather self-satisfied way, “The Bloody Baron.”

“…The Bloody Baron? Oh!” Her eyes widen, “The Bloody Baron! He was around in the time of the founders, he’s Slytherin’s ghost, he might know something!”

“Exactly, so, any idea how to find him?” 

Pansy smirks, nodding, “Oh, yes. Yes. I. Do.”


	18. Far Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uni exam period and final assignments is happening now which is why this is so late, I try to proof-read chapters one more time before I post them and literally had to do this a few lines at a time in between zoom tutorials and trying to get everything else done. So, I can continue doing that, or if you’d rather daily updates I can just upload chapters without the final proof-read. Let me know!

Chapter 17 – Far Away

Note: Chapter Title from Nickelback’s song ‘Far Away’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

 _Her eyes widen,_ _“_ _The Bloody Baron! He was around in the time of the founders, he_ _’_ _s Slytherin_ _’_ _s ghost, he might know something!_ _”_

 _“_ _Exactly, so, any idea how to find him?_ _”_

_Pansy smirks, nodding,_ _“_ _Oh, yes. Yes. I. Do._ _”_

Now,

“He’s in there,” Pansy tells Harry, pointing at a door in the dungeons, he pales. “Are you all right?”

“I know this place, this room…this is where my Father framed Hagrid for the death of Myrtle.”

“Moaning Myrtle?” Pansy asks, Harry nods, “Your Father killed her?”

“Well, sort of. He accidentally set the Basilisk that killed her loose. So I suppose it wasn’t _really_ a frame job, he was just wrong.” Harry shakes his head, “Come on, let’s do this.” 

The two open the door to find the Bloody Baron gloomily looking at his own portrait.

“Excuse me, uh, Baron, I-are you all right?” Harry asks, momentarily side-tracked from his questioning.

“Of course, what does one more year really mean after all these centuries,” The Baron replies morbidly, Pansy is rather confused by this statement. She looks to her companion only to find he is significantly less confused.

Harry frowns, “It’s your death day?” The Baron’s shoulders hunch more as he nods. “I’m sure your death day party will make you feel better. Sir Nicholas’ was gloomy and depressing when I attended five years ago,” Harry tries to reassure him, remembering the party from his first year and how it was most respectful to be sad.

“I do not have a death day party.”

“Well, perhaps if you _did_ –”

“Child, I died dishonourably, I do not deserve to be honoured now.”

Harry frowns further, walking into the room, “What happened?” He asks, sitting on an old chest beside the ghost, holding back the shiver as he remembers what once lived in it. Pansy seems nervous but shuts the door and walks over to sit beside him. 

The Baron seems to debate with himself before he turns to face the wall away from them. “I suppose it is long past time I stopped hiding from my actions. I wear these chains as penance you know, but after so long…they have gotten far too heavy for me.”

“I understand what it’s like to be weighed down by something, by guilt. You don’t have to carry those chains alone,” Harry tells him, Pansy nods though he can’t see her.

“I was taught by Salazar Slytherin himself,” The Baron begins, Pansy and Harry stay quiet as he speaks, “I knew all the founders, and I knew their children. I met a woman, I fell in love, but she did not return my love. She ran away once, I was sent to find her, only she would not return with me.” The Baron stops here, Pansy and Harry exchange worried looks, concerned about where this is going and rather confused as he seems to jump between topics. “I was angry, I never really meant to do it,” He whispers, Pansy gasps slightly as Harry looks on in concern. “I killed her, I killed my Helena. This blood…it belongs to a woman I have loved for many centuries, a woman whose life I took from her, and whose presence haunts not only this castle, but who haunts _me_.” 

Harry frowns, then it clicks, “The Grey Lady, the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower, she’s Helena, isn’t she?”

The Baron turns back slightly, nodding and looking away again. “When I realised what I had done…I could not live with myself.”

“You killed yourself because you loved her.”

The Baron scoffs, shaking his head as he turns around, “I have told myself that for many years child, but it is not truth, not completely. I did indeed love her, but the entirety of my actions that day were selfish. I tried to make her return when all she wanted was to stay, I killed her because she did not love me, and I killed myself, not because I loved her, but because I hated myself. Hated what I had done, hated that there was nothing else to blame, though I tried. I hated that nothing could take back what I have done. I carry these chains, I haunt these halls, but in the end, it is not for her benefit, I attempt to absolve myself of a guilt I justly earned. My death is nothing to be mourned or celebrated or remembered, I am as without courage and honour in death as I was in life.”

“That’s not true!” Pansy says forcefully, standing even as tears fall freely down her face, she makes no move to wipe them away. 

The Baron turns to face her, equal parts angry and shocked, “How da-”

“It’s not! You did the wrong thing, and you can’t ever take that back, but the choices one makes in the past do not define their future. You are worthy of forgiveness, Baron. You say you are without honour? That you lack courage? Then buck the fuck up and go _talk to her_. At the very least _she_ deserves that closure, and dammit, SO DO YOU! You can’t bring her back to life, Baron, but you can help her rest in peace. You owe her that, and you have earnt that. You don’t need to carry those chains anymore, go to her, let her take them off. Give her the apology you know will never be enough and let _her_ decide whether or not you may rest in peace as well.” 

The room sits in silence for a while, then the Baron silently nods, “Perhaps you are right, Child.” Pansy smiles slightly, Harry does too. “What is it you both came here for?”

“We were hoping you’d be able to answer a question for us,” Harry tells him hesitantly, the Baron nods for him to continue, “We have reason to believe that someone was after Salazar Slytherin, that he was in trouble of some kind, we were hoping you’d know who was hunting him.” The Baron looks momentarily amused before it faded into a serious expression, he moves as though sitting cross-legged only he floats in mid-air whilst doing so. Pansy takes it as her cue to sit back down next to Harry.

“Salazar was not the kindest of fellows, he made a lot of enemies, I doubt there was a time in his life when he was _not_ being hunted by something.”

“He believed his children were in danger, you said you knew them, right?” Pansy asks.

The Baron nods, “Ayleth and Merek. Merek and I knew each other well, though Ayleth never to a particular liking to me,” He tells them before he frowns, “If Salazar believed them to be in danger, he would have done anything to keep them safe.”

“We think he did.” Harry watches as the Baron digests his words, an odd look crossing the ghost’s face. Harry wonders how close he and Salazar were. “We think he tried to protect them and in doing so created something horrible, something he then tried and failed to destroy. Did Merek ever mention anything? It would have been around the time he left the school.”

“I do not believe so, though…I do recall him speaking of an argument he overheard between Godric and Rowena. Godric seemed to think something needed to be done about M-erek’s Father. Rowena did not agree, she felt that to do so would be lowering herself to his level, as though Salazar had been some evil menace to the world and not a man who simply sought the betterment of his people. Rowena forbade Godric from following through with his words, I have often found myself wondering whether or not he listened. If he did not, I died before anything came of it.” 

Harry’s eyes widen slightly as it all clicks in his head, “It’s you…you’re Merek Slytherin, aren’t you? Ayleth was your sister, that’s why you didn’t get along, you are siblings,” Harry guesses, Pansy looks to her House’s ghost in shock, he hesitates a moment before nodding, a…well…haunted, look in his eye. “Then there’s something you should see.” He gestures for the parchment in Pansy’s hand, she hands it to him, he holds it up for the Baron to read.

“Oh Father, what did you do?” He whispers as he reads, he shakes his head as he looks away.

“Are you all right Ba-Lord Slytherin?” Pansy asks.

Merek turns to them with a soft smile, “It has been a long time since I have been able to be myself, somewhere throughout the millennium I have been dead, I believe I forgot my own origins, my own truth. Thank you, for bringing him back to me, even if not for good news.” He seems to hesitate, “Helena is Rowena’s daughter, she may know something more of what happened.”

“Can you take us to her?” Pansy asks, the ghost hesitates, “Aren’t you the one who said it was long past time you stopped hiding from your actions?”

He nods, slowly, “Very well, but I cannot guarantee she will be pleased to see me.”

“It…um…might help if you aren’t…you know…wearing her blood,” Harry stutters awkwardly, Merek looks over himself, hesitating. This had always been a part of his penance, but he knows it was for his benefit, that it will only make matters worse for Helena, and she is what truly matters here. With that thought, the blood vanishes.

“You know, you’re really rather handsome,” Pansy says.

Harry rolls his eyes at her, “That’s my insane amount of greats uncle you’re talking about,” He mutters.

She chuckles, “I bang your sister on the regular, is this really the priority?”

“Great Uncle?” Merek asks.

Harry nods, “I’m the heir to Slytherin,” He replies, he’s never truly stated it like this before, it’s almost as though he feels something change at his declaration.

Merek frowns, “Then it was you who released the beast –”

“No! It wasn’t. That was my Father, but it’s not his fault, not exactly.”

“What?” Pansy asks Harry, he didn’t strike her as the type to defend the guilty, regardless of his relationship with them.

“Long story, I’ll explain later when I fill Mio, Ron, and Ginny in on everything.”

“Yes, Sir,” Pansy replies easily, the two turn back to the ghost who nods warily.

“We best be off then, children,” He tells them.

The three walk to Ravenclaw Tower, earning many a confused and surprised look along the way.

“Perhaps one of you should go first,” Merek suggests.

Pansy shakes her head, “You need to do this Lord Slytherin, but don’t worry, we’ll be with you.”

“You may call me Merek, both of you.” They both smile and nod, both proud to have earnt his favour.

“Baron.” The three turn to look at the owner of the angry voice, a ghost floating off a balcony, the Grey Lady.

“Helena, m-may we talk?”

She frowns, suspicious and angry, but a hint of something else that Harry can’t identify. “I have nothing to say to you,” She replies harshly before beginning to float away.

“Wait!” Pansy calls, the ghost turns around, looking unhappy, “Please, I know who you are.”

“You do not know anything about me.”

“I know you ran away, I know you didn’t come back, and I know that look in your eye. I have seen that on my friend’s face enough times to know what it means. You’re Rowena Ravenclaw’s daughter, so if Merek is Salazar’s son, then the two of you were raised together.”

“WHAT IS YOUR POINT?!” Helena screams at her.

Pansy doesn’t flinch, “My point is that it can’t be easy to have your childhood friend love you in a way you can’t return,” She replies. The two ghosts and Harry all freeze, looking at her before Harry and Merek turn to Helena again to see how she reacts, but she says nothing. “That’s why you left, isn’t it? It hurt you to push him away, but you couldn’t give him what he wanted, you saw how much it crushed him, so you left. You felt guilty. Only for him to follow after you, for him to try and bring you home but you couldn’t go back, because you left for him. My point, is that it must be very painful to have the best friend you gave up everything for murder you in a fit of rage, and even more painful to know they ended their own life because of it and, in your mind, because of you. You aren’t angry at him, you feel guilty.”

“Is this true?” Merek asks Helena who seems nervous.

She starts crying, as much as a ghost can cry, as she nods. “Almost.” 

Merek floats out to be with her, “My dear Helena, I do love you, but more than anything I have wanted you to be happy. I knew then that you could never love me, but so long as I did not lose you all together, I would have happily remained at your side as your friend.”

“I am sorry, Merek. I just could not stand to cause you more pain, and to know I drove you to do as you did…I pushed you away even after death because I could not face you. I have heard your rattling chains, seen the blood, my blood, that once stained your clothes. You are miserable, because of me.” Merek pulls Helena into a hug that she gratefully returns.

“It is I who is sorry Lena, I should never have tried to make you return, regardless of what your mother said. I am more sorry than I can ever put into words over what happened, I am so very sorry that I ki-killed you. Please, can you ever forgive me?”

Helena smiles faintly at him, though the tears continue falling. “My friend, there is nothing you could do that I would not forgive. But Merek…I did not leave because I did not love you. I left because I do.”

“What?” Harry, Pansy, and Merek all ask, she looks heartbroken.

“Mother discovered something the night before you first confessed your love for me. I had been sick, as you recall, and in attempting to heal my ailment, she found my body…infertile.” Harry and Pansy exchanged bewildered looks as Merek looks at her in confusion. “You had long spoken of your wish for many children, children I could not provide. I only wished to save you from a life you did not want.”

Merek pulls back, looking her in the eyes. “Helena Ravenclaw, you are more important to me than any daydream of a future I ever had. I have regretted many things throughout my afterlife, many revolving around what happened between us, but none included the loss of children in my life.” 

She cries harder, resting her forehead against his. “I love you Merek. I have forgiven you your actions, can you, in turn, forgive my own trespasses?”

“Always Helena, above everything else, you are my closest friend in life, and in death.” The two hold each other closely, Harry wrapping an arm around Pansy’s shoulders as she starts sniffling.

“Never tell anyone,” She requests, he nods, she smiles.

“These children require aid, they wish to uncover information about why my Father left the school, and possibly how he died.” 

Helena looks to the kids, retaining her hold on her lover’s hand. “What is it you wish to know?” She asks them.

Harry steps closer to the barrier edging the balcony. “Someone was after him, he believed Merek and his sister to be in danger, and he created something terrible in trying to save them. Whatever happened, it was soon before he left the school. Do you know who was after him? What he created?” 

Helena frowns, “I left long before such events occurred but…Auntie Helga had expressed some concerns. She spoke of tensions between my Mother, Godric, and Salazar rising, namely the latter two. She quite emphatically warned me to stay out of it as she was trying to. After my death, I came right back here, but it was some time before I truly appeared. Salazar was dead, Auntie Helga…Mother declared her death natural, but there was nothing natural about it,” Helena says, growing distressed, “I watched her die…”

“What happened?” Harry asks.

Helena seems torn for a moment before she floats forward, offering out a hand to each of the two students. “Please, let me show you.” Harry and Pansy exchange nervous looks before, as one, they turn and grab a hand, instantly being thrown into some sort of memory.

_The quarters they find themselves in are warmly coloured. Yellow, beiges, green, some orange. Lots of plants surround them, and on a desk, a picture of the four founders and many children on the graduation day of what must have been their first lot of students. They seem happy._

_A stoutly woman hurries into the room, easily recognisable as Helga Hufflepuff._

_“_ _They did it, I cannot believe they did it,_ _”_ _She states, seeming incredibly distressed,_ _“_ _I should have left with Helena, I know I should have. I should have gone with Merek,_ _”_ _She rants, pacing and looking for all the world like she just does not know what to do. She takes a breath before looking out the window slightly and nodding, she has no choice. Going over to her desk, she pours a potion from a vial into a chalice and swallows it all in one go. The chalice is still smoking when she puts it down and goes back to the window._

Knock, Knock, Knock

_Helga turns towards the door, fear clear on her face before she pulls herself together, it could just be a student, after all. It is not._

_“_ _Helga, are you all right? Rowena mentioned that you appeared rather anxious during dinner,_ _”_ _A man tells her as he opens the door and walks in, she takes a step back._

 _“_ _I know what you did, Godric, and I know she helped you hide your crime._ _”_

_Godric smiles at her placatingly,_ _“_ _Now, Helga, we have all been out of sorts since Salazar abandoned the school_ _…”_

 _“_ _Salazar never left the school._ _”_

 _Godric sighs,_ _“_ _What nonsense are you speaking of, Helga? He is not here._ _”_

 _“_ _I KNOW WHAT YOU DID! I know what you are and your lies will not convince me. Your transgressions will not soon be forgotten, not by me,_ _”_ _She tells him with an uncharacteristic strength in her voice._

 _His warm smile fades away to something cold and sinister and usually attributed to Salazar._ _“_ _How unfortunate that is._ _”_

 _“_ _Why did you do it, Godric? You_ loved _him, I know you did. The two of you, you were brothers!_ _”_

 _He shakes his head and shrugs,_ _“_ _Brothers fight, dear Helga. He just would not listen to reason._ _”_

 _“_ _I do not think it is he who refuses to hear reason. Godric, please_ _–”_

 _“_ _I am afraid it is far too late for pleasantries, Helga. Salazar is long dead, as is his son. Tonight, Ayleth will re-join her family, and none shall remain that know. Not even you._ _”_

_Helga nods, looking unsurprised,_ _“_ _You may do as you wish to me, but I promise you this, the line of Salazar Slytherin will not end here, no matter what you or your partner in crime do, I have made certain of it._ _”_

_“_ _What have you done?_ _”_ _He asks, she doesn_ _’_ _t answer,_ _“_ _WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!_ _”_ _He screams as he takes her shoulders and shakes her._

 _She just smiles sadly,_ _“_ _You may have killed him, but his teachings lived on. Salazar is the one who taught me to plan for all contingencies, you always_ have _been he who could never anticipate them._ _”_ _She begins coughing, choking, he frowns, dropping her as foam fills her mouth, and she dies right before him. He looks on in shock before the door opens once again._

 _“_ _Godric, what have you done?_ _”_

 _Godric turns to see a beautiful woman closing the door behind her._ _“_ _I did not do this, Rowena, I swear it on my honour._ _”_

_Rowena narrows her eyes at him,_ _“_ _I am not sure if you have noticed this, but the meaning of your honour has dropped rather drastically in recent years. Your oath is meaningless to me, as is the need for it. Helga is dead, Salazar is dead, was our daughter not enough for you?_ _”_

 _“_ _Your daughter. You decided long ago that she was not to know of her true parentage._ _”_

 _“_ _That does not negate your duty as her Father. Helena is dead._ _”_

 _“_ _I know! Killed by_ Salazar’s _son, a boy who claimed to love her. I brought our daughter justice, and you would fault me this?_ _”_

 _“_ _I fault you for your willingness to kill under any circumstances. Besides, a Father is no more responsible for the sins of his Son than a Son responsible for the sins of his Father, as you_ well _know, or have you forgotten who and what your own Son has grown to be? Who your Father was? Are you to be held accountable for both? And what was Helga_ _’_ _s part in all of this? She has never wished Helena ill will of any kind, nor any one in truth._ _”_

 _“_ _I did not kill Helga!_ _”_

 _“_ _And I am to believe this?!_ _”_

 _“_ _YES, DAMN YOU!_ _”_ _Rowena does not seem intimidated._ _“_ _She says she has ensured the continuance of the Slytherin line. What of the Chamber? It seeks revenge, on everything we stand for._ _”_

 _“_ _The traits of her House do not allow for a cunning plan I am afraid. I found Ayleth attempting to leave through the bunker. Fear not, my Love, the Heir to Slytherin will_ never _find that chamber. Much as I loathe your actions here today, there is no one left who can tear what we have built apart. Hogwarts will live forever, a safe place for wizards and witches alike._ _”_

 _“_ _And when my Heir returns?_ _”_ _Godric asks._

 _Rowena gives him a sad smile,_ _“_ _We have binded your connection to the castle as much as possible, all we can do is hope that your heir is nothing like your son, and that he is not nearly so powerful as you._ _”_ _Godric turns, walking to the window and looking out of it. Rowena walks over and wraps her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder,_ _“_ _Divination is not exact, you must remember this. There is no guarantee that the Baroness was right, Lady Prince has been known to exaggerate in social circumstances, why should this be any different?_ _”_

 _“_ _What did the seer call him? My heir, the one who will unwillingly aid Salazar_ _’_ _s heir in destroying all of our school? The one foolish enough to engage the man in such a battle in our own courtyard?_ _”_

 _“_ _Albus. His name was Albus Dumbledore._ _”_ _Godric nods as Rowena continues,_ _“_ _There is hope with the other._ _”_

 _“_ _We cannot possibly hope that a mere teenager can defeat them both before the battle comes to pass, not even one born as heir to all our lines._ _”_

 _“_ _We have done all we can to prevent this, we can do nothing else,_ _”_ _She tells him._

 _“_ _We can teach a warning, a legend. Warn of the Chamber and what it contains, warn of the chamber, and teach our students to never wish for anything like it. We teach them that Salazar_ _’_ _s ways were wrong, that the people in his house are not the only ones fit for Hogwarts, that they are wrong for thinking otherwise._ _”_

 _“_ _You would drag his name through the mud?_ _”_

 _Godric sighs,_ _“_ _Rowena, I wish more than anything that he had seen what we saw, that he knew what prompted all of this. I wish he understood what was truly happening. But he didn_ _’_ _t, his son murdered my daughter, proof that his line will remain the same, proof that the future we saw will occur. We must protect the future above all else._ _”_

_Rowena sighs, shaking her head,_ _“_ _You have always been reckless, Gryffindor, but this must be your most foolish plan yet._ _”_

 _Godric smiles faintly at her, patting her hand with his._ _“_ _Who is more foolish? The fool, or the one who follows him?_ _”_

_She returns the smile before stepping away,_ _“_ _I will inform the school of Helga_ _’_ _s_ _…_ _untimely demise._ _”_ _He nods._

_Shortly after she leaves, he does too._

_They feel themselves float closer to the window, noticing something that neither founder had. On the edge of the forest was a girl, alive despite earlier statements. Somehow, Helga had done it._

_Ayleth Slytherin had survived._

Pansy and Harry are dropped back into their own lives, disoriented for a moment before looking around to see the two ghosts watching them curiously.

“This could be bad.”

Pansy looks at Harry in exasperation, “You think?!”

“We should go meet with the others,” Harry tells her, ignoring the snark, “Thank you, for all of your help,” He tells Merek and Helena who smile at them both.

“You have saved the both of us from an eternity of needless sufferance. It is I who thanks you. Should either of you ever require anything, I offer my services,” Merek declares.

Helena nods, “As do I. In regards to what I showed you though, please, be careful.”

Harry nods back, “We will, we promise.” Harry and Pansy begin walking away, though only a few steps later Pansy grabs his arm. He looks to her questioningly, she smiles and points behind them. He turns to find Helena and Merek wrapped up in a sweet yet passionate kiss, a glow from the candle-lit hallway casting yellow warmth over the both of them. 

The once Bloody Baron and Grey Lady, glowing and full of love once more.

Hold up…candle?

“Shit, Pansy, the candles!”

“What about them?”

“It’s night!” Her eyes widen as she realises he is right. 

The two turn to hurry away when Helena calls out to them. “Wait!” They turn back, Harry steps towards her again. “Please, there is something else and no one I trust to do it. If you have any hope of defeating the evil you so desire to, you need to find my Mother’s diadem, and destroy it.” 

Harry frowns but nods, “All right, where is it?” 

She smiles wistfully, floating back towards her lover, “It's here, in the castle, in the place where everything is hidden. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask.” 

Pansy looks very confused, but Harry’s eyes widen and he nods.

“Thank you.” Pansy looks to him questioningly, he just grabs her arm and tugs. “Come on!”

Harry leads her straight to the Room of Requirement, opening it to the Room of Hidden Things before walking in, Pansy beside him. 

“Wow, what _is_ this place?”

“Hopefully, where the Diadem is hidden.” 

Pansy looks around doubtfully, “Riddle, there’s about fifty-thousand kilograms of crap in here, how are we supposed to find one diadem?”

Harry pulls his wand out, “Accio Diadem.” Nothing happens. “Yeah I didn’t think it would work.”

“Worth a shot, though,” Pansy says before pulling her enchanted paper out of her pocket. “I’m going to tell the others to come here. Might as well be searching while we catch each other up on what we’ve found. Besides, the more eyes the better for this.”

“I’m certain of this room’s security as well, so I’ll tell Mio, Ron, and Ginny about everything.” 

Pansy nods, “Blaise,” She says before she sits on the ground and begins writing.

_Tutamen,_

_Need more eyes._

_Bring all groups to the place where_ _everything is hidden. If you have to ask, you will never know. If you know, you need only ask._

_Addens_

“We might as well start looking while we wait,” Pansy says.

Harry nods, “Quick question though, what’s a diadem?”

“Oh you poor, and I mean that literally, sod.”

Harry glares at her, “I am not poor! I’m the heir to two different fortunes!”

She shakes her head, “It doesn’t matter how much money you gain, you were raised with none, you will never be rich.”

Harry seems annoyed but feels there is a deeper meaning to that and calms down, “What do you mean?”

She sighs, “It’s a kind of tiara.” She tells him, they start digging through stuff. Harry thinks his question has been ignored until she starts talking again, “My Father, he’s a pureblood. Not all purebloods are rich and extravagant like the Malfoys and the Blacks. Mother’s family was reasonably well off, but that side of the family keeps to themselves, lest anyone find out my Mother is actually a half-blood.” Harry raises his eyebrows in surprise, she gives an unamused chuckle, “Yes, laugh it up, a half-blood in the sacred twenty-eight.”

“Believe me, I’m not laughing. I’m imagining how Sirius’ parents would react to me. The adopted son of their child, raised by Muggles.” She snickers at that, he chuckles, then suddenly they’re both laughing. 

When they calm down again and continue searching, she continues speaking.

“The family was hesitant to leave my Mother anything. See, her Mother was a Muggle, her Father was disowned because of his relationship. But both parents died and there was no other family for her to go to, so her grandparents were forced to take her in. Wasn’t exactly a great environment to grow up in. They didn’t want to leave her anything they didn’t have to, but she had the power to strip the family of their status with a single drop of blood.” Pansy sighs, “They left her a small estate and a house-elf, and then they just left _her_. She was sixteen. Father’s family was struggling at the time after a whole thing with the Zabinis that I’ve never gotten an explanation for, but given their place in society, they knew how to hide it. Still, after he realised what had happened to my Mother, he told his parents who insisted she move in with them. A few years later they got married, the marriage between two seemingly respectable pureblood families prompted a few other marriages, and Mother’s grandparents felt she should be compensated and welcomed back to the family for her act of familial pride. She wanted to refuse them, but she’d just fallen pregnant with me and they needed the money. Thus we ended up in the situation we are in now. My parents, they have everything they could ever want now, but they’ll never forget what it’s like to have nothing, it’s not something that goes away. I expect you’ll understand that better than anyone.” 

He nods, looking at her seriously for a moment before standing up. “Pansy, earlier, you told Helena that you’d seen the look in her eyes on your friend’s face. Who did you mean?” 

Pansy seems to debate something for a while. “Have you ever noticed that Blaise has a very strong relationship with Remus and Sev?”

Harry nods, “Yeah, he lives with them a lot of the time, right?”

Pansy nods, seeming relieved to not have to explain that bit, “Well it has to do with why, it’s also not really my place to say.” 

Harry nods, “Of course.” 

Pansy looks at him nervously, “Harry, why do you want to kill Dumbledore? Not the whole ‘world isn’t kind’ speech you give, I know that one off by heart, but I mean really. What set this off? Why pick Dumbledore?” 

Harry looks at her considering for a moment, then he speaks, “The Department of Mysteries is real,” He tells her, she seems a bit surprised he’s admitting it but not that it exists. “When we were there, aft-after Sirius was killed…” Harry trails off for a moment, he takes a deep breath and turns back to her, not even sure when he looked away, “My Father possessed me. I managed to drive him out but not how Dumbledore thinks I did. As though _friendship_ has any real power,” He says as though the concept itself were disgusting, Pansy frowns, Harry shakes his head, “I saw into his mind, not far, but far enough to see he knew friendship as well as I, perhaps even more. Dumbledore said it’s not how we are alike, it’s how we are different, as though Tom Riddle had never been anything but the enemy. I never really realised before that underneath it all, Voldemort is a person too. A person who is obsessed with killing Dumbledore, but the old man is just as bad. He’s blinded by this war, even after it finished he was still scheming. There was always more to this than I knew, he _had_ to be stopped.”

“Okay, now how about I tell you the rest of the reason?” Harry raises an eyebrow at her presumptuous tone. “You have been alone for so long and you blame him for it. You finally find family and it’s taken from you and you blame him for it. Everything goes wrong, the world seems against you even as they look to you for a leader, and you. Blame. Him. You’re angry, you want vengeance, you want your family, and you want to be safe. You are doing this because you want it to be over, and you think that taking away such a powerful leader will end this war without you having to fight a man you just can’t work out how to hate. He’s your Father, and I think somehow you’ve always known you can’t kill him, not really. But Dumbledore? The one at fault for all of this? He’s free game. After all, the world isn’t kind, is it?”

Harry holds her gaze for a moment before looking to the ground.

“Maybe you’re right.”

She nods, “Right then, let’s find this ruddy diadem, destroy it, and get back to killing the old bastard.” Harry looks at her in surprise, she smirks, “You didn’t think I’d quit just because you’re a little angrier than you realised?” He smiles at her, she smiles too. 

He chuckles, “You’re awfully adorable to be so gun-ho about murder.”

Pansy glares at him, “Right, you little shit, listen up. You –”

“Hey we- um, everything okay?” Ron asks as he and the others walk into the room to find Pansy poking him aggressively in the chest while he appears to be trying not to laugh.

“Just fine,” Pansy replies, stepping back and crossing her arms.

He smirks, “You think pouting is going to help your case here?”

“RIGHT, THAT’S IT, RIDDLE!” Pansy screams, Harry runs, she chases him.

“What is happening right now?” Draco asks, looking shocked, no one else seems to know.

A few minutes later they reappear, Harry has a giant scratch mark on his face, Pansy seems pleased with herself.

“So, why are we here?” Ginny asks.

Harry nods, “Right, we’re looking for the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, but whatever you do, don’t put it on,” He tells them, they all shrug and start looking.

“What exactly _is_ a diadem?” Ron asks.

“Kind of like a tiara.”

“Why do you know that?” Blaise asks him, Harry nods his head towards Pansy, “Ah, that makes sense.”

“WHY EXACTLY ARE WE LOOKING FOR THIS DIADEM?” Hermione shouts from one side of the room.

“WE WERE ASKED TO DESTROY IT BY A FRIEND!” Harry replies, “A FRIEND WHO WAS VERY HELPFUL TO US.”

“WE’RE GOING TO DESTROY THE DIADEM OF ROWENA RAVENCLAW?!” Blaise shouts in outrage, “CARE YOU NOTHING FOR HISTORY?!”

Pansy sniggers, “SORRY BLAISE, BUT THERE IS MUCH EVEN _YOU_ DO NOT KNOW OF HISTORY, PARTICULARLY THAT OF ROWENA RAVENCLAW.”

“WILL ALL OF YOU SHUT UP?! I think I found it!” Ron calls, they all converge on his location to find him about to touch it.

“Wait, don’t!” Ginny screeches, he jumps back. She approaches it cautiously, then turns to Harry, “What have you gotten into, Harry?” She asks quietly with fearful eyes, everyone looks confused between the two, but as Harry walks over, he understands.

“Well, now I understand why it needs to be destroyed,” He comments lightly.

Ginny crosses her arms, “It’s time to explain what exactly is going on here, now. All of it.”

Harry looks to Draco, Pansy, and Blaise who just nod their heads to say they’ll follow his lead, he nods, “All right then. But this could take a while, and we need this room to be secure.” Just as the words leave his mouth, the room shifts. Suddenly, they’re standing in the old training room for the DA, the diadem on the floor at their feet and the door has vanished all together.

“God, I love this place,” Hermione suddenly comments.

Pansy grins at her, “You’re beautiful when you’re happy. More so than usual.” Hermione blushes slightly as she walks over and sits on the ground beside her girlfriend. Taking that as a cue, everyone sits in a circle in the room.

“All right then, you three have to promise you’ll let me explain, fully.” Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all nod.

“We promise.” 

Harry nods, “I’m trying to destroy Dumbledore.”

“You-WHAT?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just want to clarify, that for the sake of the story I have written this as it is. But, for the record, I absolutely do not in any way condone the actions of the Bloody Baron. Him murdering someone because they would not go with him, someone he claimed to love, is absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable. There could never be any kind of explanation that earned forgiveness for that in real life.
> 
> Just wanted to make that clear.
> 
> Also Uni exam period and final assignments is happening now which is why this is so late, I try to proof-read chapters one more time before I post them and literally had to do this a few lines at a time in between zoom tutorials and trying to get everything else done. So, I can continue doing that, or if you’d rather daily updates I can just upload chapters without the final proof-read. Let me know


	19. Good Enough

Chapter 18 – Good Enough

Note: Chapter Title from Little Mix’s song ‘Good Enough’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“_ _I_ _’_ _m trying to destroy Dumbledore._ _”_

_“_ _You-WHAT?!_ _”_

Now,

“Too much doesn’t add up about him, about his intentions, his motivations, his actions. There’s so much we don’t know about the whole situation with Voldemort and now…now things have gotten even more complicated than I could have ever imagined,” Harry begins to explain.

Ginny, Ron, and Hermione all look at each other, nervous, confused, considering.

“So catch us up then, what don’t we know?” Ron asks. Draco, Pansy, and Blaise seem surprised.

“They aren’t the only ones who need to do that, there’s a bunch of stuff that happened over the holidays that we should talk about,” Hermione says, Pansy and Blaise nod their agreement.

“Also, Ginny and I found out…a lot from Remus, and if they’re all in now, then I request that, even before you finish explaining all of this, we’re able to fill you in.” Harry nods to Draco who leans forward slightly, “So, for everyone who doesn’t know, Tom Riddle isn’t Lord Voldemort, not truly.”

“I’m already confused,” Pansy mutters.

“During the first war, both sides discovered that the original Voldemort, Roana Gaunt, was possessed with some other entity, a non-human spiritous apparition Uncle Remus called it. It wasn’t a secret, but nor was it publicly known. Uncle Remus killed Gaunt, whatever was possessing him then went into his nephew, Tom Riddle. It had been slowly transferring, corrupting him, for quite sometime. During that time is when the whole Chamber thing happened twenty years ago. Anyway, my Aunt Bella was killed a few months ago, Voldemort killed her because she was plotting against him. She seemed to think she had set up his downfall regardless of whether or not she was killed. She had a letter, one to Uncle Remus, which I passed on along with my memory of the entire incident –”

“A memory?” Ron asks, Draco nods, Ron looks to Harry and Hermione who both look just as anxious.

“What?”

“Remus quit the Order,” Harry tells him, the three look surprised, “After Snape gave him the letter and the memory he disappeared for a week, taking the memory with him. When he came back, he and Dumbledore had an argument of some kind, he quit, and then ran off. No one heard from him again until someone contacted him about the job at the school.”

“He’s leaving again, said he had to finish what he’d been doing during that time,” Ginny tells him, “He’d sent a letter to warn you, it should arrive at breakfast, but since we were there he told us to pass that along.”

“Perhaps you’d better finish your story?” Harry suggests.

Draco nods, “The letter Aunt Bella wrote gave some kind of hint, we don’t know what. Only that he found someone who told him the identity of the apparition, he’s trying to work out how to separate it from your Father, Harry, to save him and capture it. We still don’t know what or how, but Voldemort is Ariana Dumbledore, the Headmaster’s younger sister.” Everyone besides Ginny and Draco look completely shocked.

Harry shrugs, “Yeah that makes sense. What the hell happened to her, though?”

“Have any of you heard of Gellert Grindelwald?” Ginny asks, they all nod, “Turns out he and Dumbledore were friends. They were duelling with Dumbledore’s brother, Aberforth, and she got in the way, Dumbledore killed her. It was an accident, of course, and no one even saw for sure who cast the spell that hit her. We wouldn’t be certain of it if not for her actions. She’s not going after Aberforth or Grindelwald, her target has always been the Headmaster. That is, until Harry came around.”

“Right, see,” Draco says, taking over, “From how Uncle Remus described it, the soul of the possessed seems to meld into Ariana, so when he found out he had a son who was being kept from him, all of the crazy she was providing was pushed into that thought instead of her need for revenge, but that changed after you killed them. We don’t know how exactly, but she’s still connected with Tom’s soul, he’s still in there. She wants to destroy her brother, and sometimes that seems to come out on top, but he doesn’t want that. His thoughts and feelings are being corrupted and warped, but he still just wants his Son. That’s why Remus is trying to save him. Besides, he feels guilty about what happened to him in the first place.”

“So what you’re telling me is, the entire reason Voldemort exists is because Dumbledore betrayed his brother, joined a madman just like Voldemort, and killed his sister?” Hermione asks, Ginny and Draco nod.

“Yeah, that about sums it up,” Ginny replies.

Pansy sighs, “Actually, it’s more complicated than that, I’m afraid. Dumbledore is the heir to Gryffindor,” She tells them, they all look to her in surprise, she turns to Harry who nods.

Harry clears his throat, “So, a while back, as you should all know, Remus’ house was raided. Professor Malfoy found Sirius there but didn’t turn him in, he warned him, that’s why Remus went into hiding. It’s also how we found out what he was looking for, and in doing so, recovered a piece of Salazar Slytherin’s diary. I’ve since found the rest of it, but Pansy hasn’t had a chance to translate it. Anyway, it presented a mystery of its own, Hermione, Ron, and I felt that there was more to the story of Salazar leaving than we knew. It occurred to me when we were talking to Professor Malfoy, and you mentioned about how the ghosts might know something about the apparition, that the Bloody Baron was alive during the time of the founders and might know something.”

“You were right, that was an insane idea,” Draco tells him.

Harry nods, “Insane, but it worked. Pansy and I went and asked him about it, it…got sidetracked…”

“A hundred percent though we should both be mind healers, we were amazing!”

Harry smiles and nods at Pansy’s enthusiasm, “Anyway, we know how he died, only…I don’t know that you’ll want to hear it,” Harry says, looking directly at Ron.

“Before you go off on another tangent, I’d like to know why the hell you’re trying to destroy Dumbledore. I know you two had your suspicions about him but –” Ron begins before Harry cuts him off.

“Because he cares for nothing but winning the war, he doesn’t give a shit who gets hurt or dies in the process, it’s not as though he’s ever on the front bloody lines. It’s me he sends out there, me he left with Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, me he lied to about Snape’s relationship with Uncle James, he who lied to me about all of it, who would never have told me. Me who keeps losing everything whilst he sits in his office moving us around like pieces on a giant fucking chessboard! I will not be complacent anymore when I am nothing but a weapon to him, a weapon and a bargaining chip. This is the only way I can be free, and the only way anyone has a chance of being safe. This won’t end. This war? He’ll keep fighting it, long after my Father or his sister or whoever the fuck it is is gone. That’s why. I want to be safe and I want our world to be safe. Voldemort isn’t the only one trying to control it, after all, only Dumbledore has already succeeded.” 

Ron looks at him for a moment, then nods, “You know, Dad once described him as a situational ally. Bloody great person to have on your side, but only there so long as it suits him. Think I see his point now.” Harry smiles slightly at Ron who nods, “Right then, who killed the ancient git?”

“Please let me tell him,” Pansy pleads.

Harry sighs and decides that’s probably not a good idea, so he replies, “Godric Gryffindor. He and Rowena had been conspiring against him. Eventually, it lead to Helga’s death too, and Ayleth.”

“Ayleth survived, we saw that!” Pansy exclaims, confused.

Harry nods, “A version of her. Rowena Ravenclaw was no idiot, she never would have said she was dead if she weren’t certain. See, there’s this potion, it makes a copy of a person, but it copies them in every way. So much so that it _is_ truly them. I think Helga took the only option she had, I think she knew of what Salazar had created. I think Rowena killed one Ayleth, meant to be a distraction while another escaped.”

“What about Merek?” Ron asks.

“He died before Godric killed his Father. He killed Rowena and Godric’s daughter Helena and then killed himself when he realised what he’d done. Meanwhile, Godric and Rowena speak to a seer of some kind, a baroness, Lady Prince, I think it was? She created a prophecy, one that’s taking place now. Dumbledore, the heir to Gryffindor, is going to battle with the heir to Slytherin in the courtyard and destroy the castle.”

“The heir to Slytherin? But that’s you, isn’t it?” Hermione asks.

Harry nods, “Yes, but I think it may have been referring to my Father. They spoke of a teenager who was supposed to defeat both of them, sounds as though both opponents are adults.”

“That teenager is probably you, you realise,” Blaise tells him.

Harry shakes his head, “Whoever it is, they’re the heir to all four founders.”

“They lived over a thousand years ago, give me a reason to think you couldn’t be?”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. This is why Salazar was afraid for his children, Godric was trying to end his line. Rowena would have been ill by that point, she spent the final months of her life trying to make sure this battle didn’t take place. If we take Dumbledore out before it does then we’ll be fulfilling the last wishes of two of the great founders of Hogwarts.”

“They were murderers, Harry!” Hermione points out.

Harry shrugs, “Who isn’t?”

“Um, almost everyone in this room,” Ginny says.

Harry waves her off as though that’s entirely beside the point, “Look, I’m not saying they were right in what they did, but Helga said Salazar and Godric had been like brothers. How afraid must he have been to turn on his own brother?” They all fall silent, Harry takes a deep breath, “Whatever they saw ended in three deaths and the creation of something horrible, we can’t act like it’s nothing and they’re just psychopaths. Evil has a reason too, and they weren’t even that.”

“Lovegood had some ideas about what this apparition could actually be, how it’s doing this and such,” Blaise tells them after a few moments of silence.

“She said she’s got a book on it somewhere and she’ll find it for us. Also said something about some _thing_ living in my ears…” Ron adds, shivering slightly, Blaise looks amused.

“Did Hagrid have anything to say?” Harry asks Hermione who shrugs.

“Only that the Tom he knew was a good bloke, fiercely loyal, and loved Mum like there was no tomorrow. I suppose for him, that’s really rather accurate. He never could understand why he suddenly turned around and had him expelled. Never even occurred to him that it was because he had been the one to kill Myrtle.”

“So, are you lot in on taking Dumbledore down?” Pansy asks.

Hermione frowns, “One condition,” She tells them.

Harry sighs, “Every time,” He mutters to himself, “What is it?”

“When we take him down, the Ministry will be in an uproar. By the time the dust settles, I want it to be set up better than it is now.”

Harry thinks that over before nodding slowly, “You know…I think we can make that happen,” He says, plans flying through his head by the dozens.

“Not even surprised,” Pansy comments, shaking her head lightly.

“Weasleys?” Draco asks.

Ron nods to Harry, “I go where you go Mate, if you’re sure of this, I’m right behind you,” He tells Harry who snaps out of his thoughts long enough to give a thankful smile and a nod before he continues scheming.

“The twins and I sort of hate Dumbledore, they made me promise that when they left I’d take over making things difficult for him. So, I guess I’m in,” Ginny tells them.

“Why do the three of you hate Dumbledore?” Blaise asks, looking suspicious.

“And how do I not know about this?” Ron adds.

Ginny sighs, “During the twins first year at Hogwarts, they noticed something strange about how the Headmaster interacts with Snape, so they started sneaking about. They were careful to make sure Jamie wouldn’t notice, didn’t want to involve her in case what they found about her own parent wasn’t good. Dumbledore’s basically been using Snape’s status as an ex-Death Eater and his guilt and grief over the friends he lost in the war to control him, to make him do as he wants. I overheard them talking about it the summer before Ron started and that’s when they filled me in. By then, they’d realised that Snape doesn’t even see what Dumbledore is doing. I believed them, of course, they were my older brothers, but the fact that they wouldn’t let me tell Mum and Dad set off warning bells. Anyway, after what happened in first year…” Ginny trails off, shaking her head for a moment, “It became obvious to me that Dumbledore isn’t what he appears. So we started plotting. See, whenever the twins did something that distracted Dumbledore during their first two years, Snape’s mood and patience level would lift considerably. Then, during their third year, it stopped working. Wasn’t hard to work out why,” She says, looking to Harry who frowns at the implication, “When I told the twins about Snape being married, that Mum and Dad had asked Remus to talk to Severus about his classes, we all thought he might notice something is up, but he didn’t. After he started teaching we had planned to tell him everything, we hoped he could intervene and he and McGonagall could stop whatever Dumbledore was doing, because Snape seemed to be worse than ever. No one else seemed to notice that it wasn’t patience he lacked, it was happiness. No one wants to deal with misbehaving children when they are that depressed, and his depression isn’t really a surprise, all things considered. Only, Remus kept getting sick. After I realised why, I thought, ‘okay, so, that’s not going away, we should tell him anyway,’ but their marriage began falling apart and we felt it best to stay out of that.”

“Good call,” Draco says, the others nod.

Blaise glares at the floor, “Well, if he’s fucking with my Sev then this took a new level. Inimicus, what do we do now?”

Harry frowns in thought, ignoring the conversation as Draco explains the name and starts an argument with Pansy over why she always has to name everything.

“Remus is right,” Harry suddenly says, everyone immediately falling silent, “My name needs to be heard. It’s time we move plans up.”

“I really didn’t think this was that well-planned,” Blaise says, looking a bit surprised, Harry raises an eyebrow at him, he falls silent.

“All right, we need more chaos. Ginny, think you can cause an explosion in Potions? Not something devastating, just something to ensure the students get dismissed while it’s dealt with?”

Ginny tilts her head to the side in thought, “Sirius once told me about a time Remus got bored and decided to blow up a potion, they had to evacuate because of a toxic gas. Lily had to use a ventilation charm to fix it. I reckon I can recreate it.”

He nods, “Perfect,” He says, ignoring the pang in his chest for so many reasons, “Melana can be in position within an hour so that’ll be at dinner tonight, he’ll cover it up though like he did the attacks in second year so…” Harry trails off, thinking in his head now instead of out loud.

‘Melana?’ Blaise mouths to Draco in question.

He shrugs, ‘No clue.’

“You could always make it public knowledge before he has a chance to,” Luna suggests, everyone jumps up and turns to see Luna and Neville standing in the doorway, Neville’s eyes wide.

“Um…how long have you been…?” Pansy asks awkwardly.

“Long enough,” Neville replies, then he shakes himself out of it and shuts the door which then disappears again, following Luna into the room proper.

“Here’s the book I was talking about. There’s only one way this could have happened, it certainly puts things in perspective,” She announces as she hands the book to Harry, despite it being Blaise and Ron she had spoken to. 

Harry frowns at the book, “Uh, Luna, this book is written in Spanish, or possibly Italian.”

“Oh, my bad,” She says, tapping the book with her wand, it translates into English, he smiles in thanks before reading through the page. 

“These are pretty particular circumstances, Lu,” Harry tells her.

She nods as she takes a seat beside him, “Well you didn’t give me any details of the situation, does it fit?” The group seems surprised at how sane she sounds, everyone but Neville, Ginny, and Harry. They are, after all, the only three people in the school who bother to try and befriend her. She’s not speaking any differently than normal, but for once they are actually listening.

“I don’t know, did Moony mention anything about trauma in Ariana’s past?” Harry asks Draco and Ginny, both of whom shake their heads.

“No but, he didn’t really seem open to talking about it much. In fact, he shut us down pretty severely at the end when we asked how he found out. I think he didn’t want us asking questions about Aunt Bella. I’m kind of worried about him actually,” Draco answers, Harry frowns in thought.

“Snape and McGonagall are too,” Ron tells them, everyone looks at him in confusion, he shrugs, “Noticed it when he got here, he smiled at something, but it was forced and they noticed. Looked quite concerned.” Harry, Hermione, and Neville are the only ones who don’t seem surprised, Ron shrugs, “Helps in chess if you can tell what people are thinking.”

“He wasn’t drinking while he was here, was he?” Harry asks, Draco and Pansy both look to Blaise who sighs.

“Technically speaking, he is not allowed to while acting as a teacher. He wasn’t allowed to while holding the teachers position in our third year and he didn’t, that being said I doubt he made anything about his appointment here easy this latest time. His hatred of Dumbledore seems to have increased tenfold. To the point of not even complaining anymore because there’s just so much hatred he’s not even worth the damned effort. So while he obviously wasn’t getting pissed, I really wouldn’t be surprised if he kept drinking.”

“Professor Lupin’s a drunk?” Neville asks, Draco nods.

“Especially lately,” Ginny adds.

“You don’t exactly fight in two wars and come out okay,” Pansy says.

Hermione shakes her head, “Dad said this started when he was a teenager.”

“Maybe when he became a Werewolf? He did say it happened when he was a kid,” Harry points out, Blaise, Pansy, and Draco all shake their heads.

“No, that happened when he was four,” Draco tells them, they seem shocked, except Ginny, she knows all.

“All right, listen, Ginny, you’re causing explosions, I’m getting my name out there, the trouble still is how to make it public,” Harry says.

Luna smirks, “I can help with that,” She tells them.

Neville sighs, “Hold on, so, we’re killing Dumbledore?” He asks, everyone looks at him a little nervously.

“We’re finding proof of wrongdoings first,” Draco tells him, Neville looks to Hermione who holds her hands up in surrender.

“I didn’t know when I started looking into it…Snape…” Hermione suddenly says, eyes widening, “Oh how could I be so stupid?! Ginny, I think you’re wrong.”

“Okay, so, want to start at the beginning and fill us in?” She asks.

Hermione grins and nods, “I think Snape knows exactly what Dumbledore is doing to him, but guilt…guilt eats. I think that he doesn’t have the strength, the capability, the will to fight back anymore so he’s just taking it. But, _he_ _’_ _s_ the one who first put me onto Dumbledore, remember?”

Ron and Harry nod.

“Yeah, something about Dark Wizards or something?” Harry asks.

“Power has corrupted even the greatest of wizards,” Hermione corrects, “He knows something is up with Dumbledore!”

“Maybe that’s why he agreed to help?” Pansy asks.

Harry sighs, “Wasn’t enough for him to do so without condition, though I must admit, I was both surprised and impressed.”

“Well, he made a deal when he joined Voldemort, why not you?” Draco says, unsurprised.

“Hold up, _Snape_ _’_ _s_ apart of this too?” They all ignore Ron.

“We need to tell Remus about this,” Pansy tells them.

Blaise shakes his head emphatically, “Are you joking? If he finds out he’s been messing with Sev, more importantly, if he finds out Sev didn’t tell him for the reasons Mio thinks…No, forget the plan, he’ll just kill him, he will _snap_ , he’s on a tenuous thread anyway and we all know it! Give him a win, let’s prove your Dad innocent first, then we’ll tell him,” Blaise suggests.

Harry thinks that over, “Give him some time, we’ll talk about it later. I don’t know about you lot but I don’t fancy having a protective Werewolf on my arse about taking him down quicker,” He tells them, they all agree.

“Professor Remus is in on this as well?” Ginny asks.

Harry frowns for a moment, “We have a lot of people in on this.” 

The newbies all exchange looks, Neville seems uneasy. Draco looks nervous for a moment before he stands up and walks over to the boy.

“Longbottom, um…I thought you ought to know, Bellatrix Lestrange is dead.” Neville looks at him in surprise, tears shining in his wide eyes. “Also, I know it won’t mean anything to you but, for the record, I’m really sorry about what my Aunt did to your parents.” Draco doesn’t try to justify his Aunt, doesn’t tell him she was once sane, doesn’t mention she died defying the Dark Lord, because that won’t help Neville. He needs closure, not excuses.

“Thank you,” Neville replies simply, Draco nods to him and goes back to where he had been sitting. “Why does Professor Lupin hate Dumbledore so much? He didn’t even bother being subtle last time he was here, and Professor Dumbledore seemed entirely willing to take it, so whatever he did, he feels like he deserves it.”

“Well, the guy did basically kidnap me right out of his arms,” Hermione points out, Harry, Ron, Draco, and Ginny all look at her in surprise.

“He what?” Harry asks darkly, Draco puts a hand on his knee, grounding him.

“Things are worse between them now,” Neville insists.

Ginny looks thoughtful, “Maybe it has something to do with what they argued about when he quit the Order.”

“I don’t think we’ll be getting answers on that anytime soon, if ever. For now, we know more than we ever have before. Pansy, I’ll need you to finish translating that diary, I want to know if he knew what Godric and Rowena were up to. Ginny, explosions, Luna, you had an idea about getting what happens at dinner into the public’s eye?”

She nods, “My Dad runs a paper called the Quibbler, not a lot of people read it, but enough that when the story is out, the Daily Prophet will want to report on it as well,” She tells them. Draco thinks it’s amazing really, how someone can be so obviously intelligent and still sound like they are talking to wisps. 

“Will he be willing to help?”

Luna nods, “Of course. It’s not his usual story, but if you’re willing to help him interview a snake, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to.”

“Sounds good,” Harry agrees.

“I’ll write to him after dinner, it will make more sense that way.”

“Brilliant, now, Ginny, you said the twins don’t like Dumbledore either, will they be willing to help us do you think?”

She nods, “With proving him to be a manipulative bastard? Most definitely. So long as they can leave Jamie out of it.” Ginny frowns, “Actually, it will look better if I only ask George. He’ll ask why and I can explain that given the nature of Fred’s relationship with Jamie and their desire to keep her out of such things, big boss felt it better to leave Fred out of it as well but make it George’s choice to go through with that or not.”

Harry smirks, “Brilliant, would you write to him, ask him to look into Slughorn’s history and try to find out why Dumbledore was so insistent he be hired. Under the guise of us wanting to honour him maybe?”

Ginny nods, “Yeah, he was a great teacher and because of school I don’t have time to write a piece about his life. I’ll write to George after dinner too.”

Harry smirks and nods, “Brilliant, after dinner, everyone’s to start spreading rumours, rumours about Dumbledore being unable to protect us. Use what’s happened in past years, show him incompetent, use the truth and create doubt in as many minds as possible,” Harry orders, they all nod, “Now Neville, even if you don’t want to be a part of this, please, keep quiet about what we’re doing.”

Neville seems nervous but nods, “I-I’m not necessarily _not_ helping, but, I need to know more, about what he’s doing, what he’s done.”

“Fair enough, we’re collecting information, you’re welcome to look through it. Draco, if you and Hermione could pool your research together and keep looking, that would be brilliant. Let Neville see, and I believe you said something about McGonagall wanting to have a look before being willing to give us anything she sees?” Pansy nods. “Do that as well, either you or Blaise, I’d rather not give her any more names of those involved unless I have to. Mio, Dray, look into the history of Gellert Grindelwald. I want to know more about Ariana and I don’t think Dumbledore’s history will provide much. Ron, ask around Gryffindor, carefully, find out how people feel about Dumbledore.” Everyone nods.

“Harry, what is it Snape bargained for?” Hermione asks.

Harry sighs, looking disgruntled, “That Harry Potter allows his memories to be viewed in order to prove Sirius Black’s innocence.” They seem surprised, he shrugs, “He wants Pettigrew convicted, Aunt Lily and Uncle James meant a lot to him and their murderer is running, relatively, free.” Hermione thinks his thought to do so probably came from what Remus said about Harry being too practical to do it, he flipped it around on him.

“Would you have done it otherwise?” Hermione asks him.

Harry nods, “You’re my sister Mio, you want our Dad proven innocent. If it were just me, no, I really wouldn’t have. Much as I want him shown to be innocent, I don’t want to relive what happened. You should be aware I’m going to insist you, Snape, and Remus are outside the room when those memories are shown though.” Hermione looks about to argue but Harry holds a hand up to silence her, “Non-negotiable Mio.” Hermione frowns but nods. “Right then, Pansy, you and I are going to destroy this diadem and I’ll give you the diary. Everyone else, you know what you’re doing.”

Draco, Hermione, Blaise, and Neville pool together the research and go through it, making copies of everything before Blaise takes it to McGonagall. After reading this, Neville decides to help with research and, after Draco uses the enchanted parchment to ask Harry, sends a letter to his Grandmother asking her what she thinks of Dumbledore, under the guise of the school being pretty out of control at the moment. Neville thinks having caregivers question things too is a good idea. He gets Ron to send a similar message to his parents. After dinner, they’re going to write again, telling them what happened. Just as they’ll suggest others do to their parents. Neville isn’t convinced killing him is the way to go, but if they disprove his goodness, the public can make their own decisions on that. By the time dinner comes around, Neville’s convinced something _does_ need to be done.

At dinner, everyone sits as per usual. Blaise and Lavender being a tad more touchy-feely than usual, Pansy informs them that since school started up again they haven’t had a lot of time together and both seem to be feeling it more with every day. At least, Blaise whined about it often enough. Draco questions why he hasn’t heard about it then, to which Pansy replies he’s too busy daydreaming about his own infatuation which Draco fervently denies despite the blush that overtakes his cheeks. They others all laugh at him, he glares at them. Not thirty seconds after, Draco and Harry are arguing just as they had for the last five years. It ended when Draco spat ‘figures you’d be that gullible, Gryffindors aren’t known for being bright, eh _Potter_ ’. This comment just about starts a fist fight before a throat clears behind them and they see Severus Snape standing there looking very unimpressed. They shut up but don’t stop glaring at each other. It’s different now though, because as annoyed as they are after the genuine argument, they are also good friends who care for each other very much.

Then the doors open, no one sees anything at first, but then they notice the snake. Lavender screams, jumping up onto the table and instinctively dragging her boyfriend with her. The snake slithers quickly through the room towards the teachers’ table, slithering up it and launching itself directly at Dumbledore.

“Wingardium Leviosa!” Severus casts immediately, wand out and holding the creature suspended in the air.

“What in the name of Merlin?” Lucius asks in a whispery yet loud voice.

“Headmaster, what would you like me to do with the snake?” Severus asks, looking rather confounded as he continues floating the animal before him, Dumbledore looks just as surprised and confused. Then the Old Man’s eyes slid back towards Harry who is watching the proceedings with the same shock as everyone else.

Dumbledore gestures the boy forward, “I don’t suppose you would mind asking it what it’s doing here, would you, Mr Potter?” 

Harry walks forward, slightly nervously as he nods. The rest of the school seems slightly off-put, unsettled by the reminder of Harry’s gift.

“Of course, Professor.” He reaches the snake, Severus lowers it more to his height, “ _Hello,_ ” He begins, the snake flicks his tongue out at him, “ _You did good, thank you again for your help, Melana,_ ” Harry tells her.

“ _Of course, Sir Riddle. Remember our deal though,_ ” The snake requests.

“ _I swear on my Father_ _’_ _s honour,_ ” Harry says, then tilts his head to the side, considering, “ _Actually, that says very little, I swear on my own Honour._ ”

The snake flicks it’s tongue out again, nodding, “ _I thank you._ ” Harry makes his face drop, frown forming as concern overshadows everything else, he nods at the snake before looking up to everyone’s expectant eyes.

“She-She says she was sent to kill you,” Harry tells them, looking at Dumbledore. Everyone gasps and looks around in surprise except Dumbledore who continues looking into Harry’s fearful eyes.

“By whom?” He asks Harry who looks anxious.

“Someone named Inimicus.”


	20. Breakaway

Chapter 19 – Breakaway

Note: Chapter Title from Kelly Clarkson’s song ‘Breakaway’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“_ _She_ _…_ _She says she was sent to kill you,_ _”_ _Harry tells them, looking at Dumbledore, everyone gasps and looks around in surprise except Dumbledore who continues looking into Harry_ _’_ _s fearful eyes._

_“_ _By whom?_ _”_ _He asks, Harry looks anxious._

_“_ _Someone named Inimicus._ _”_

Now,

Albus watches as the hall comes alive with horrified, intrigued, and, in some cases, excited whispering. He holds a hand up to silence everyone.

“Severus, the snake –”

“Melana, her name’s Melana,” Harry interjects awkwardly.

Albus gives him an indulgent smile before turning back to Severus, “Melana should be returned to her habitat, the edge of the forest perhaps?”

Severus sighs as he nods, standing. “Of course, Headmaster,” The Potions Master replies, levitating the snake out of the hall and following after it. Albus looks around the hall, finding many surprised faces, and none-expectant, not even among the teachers, so none here are conspiring against him at least. A closer look at Potter’s face convinces him that, despite now knowing his true parentage, the boy is still firmly against his Father. _I really should bring him into my office to deal with this_ _…_ _new-found knowledge problem,_ Albus thinks to himself, then he stands to address the Hall.

“Everyone, I realise this may be frightening, but everything will be all right. Remain calm, and allow the situation to be dealt with, without anyone trying to be a hero,” He says, directing the last part at the Golden Trio. Ron flushes slightly, Hermione raises her chin and holds his gaze defiantly (He’s struck again by how much being able to tell the truth has changed her. Had he known what she is like, who she truly is, he’d never have allowed her to grow so close to Harry. Now they knew and he had a potion’s master and angry/protective/very angry Werewolf both breathing down his neck to ensure the safety of both children, no longer trusting him to even protect Harry.) Harry, for his part, seems bashful but not regretful, just as Dumbledore predicted. “I ask that you all put your faith in our staff, and in me, to keep you all safe.”

“What about you, Headmaster?” A child, first year, calls out, fear in her voice, his face softens. Sometimes, he finds himself forgetting there are those out there who haven’t been fighting war after war for over a century, that innocence exists. It’s in these moments he questions his actions, his motivations, only to look around the school and remember the most important thing. Hogwarts must survive.

“I assure you, Miss Einsley, I am in no danger,” He tells the girl, she seems convinced, many others do not. “Now then, I suggest we all finish our dinner, and then head off to bed.” 

After the students retire to their Common Rooms, the teachers converge in the Staffroom.

“Albus, what is going on, who is Inimicus?!” Minerva demands immediately, the room erupting into chaos soon after. 

Albus holds a hand up to silence them, just as he did with the children, and just like the children, the Professors settle down almost immediately. “I haven’t the faintest idea who it is, Minerva. However, there is no safer place than Hogwarts, and should they wish to kill me, it will most certainly take more than a snake.”

“Everyone knows that,” Severus says, Albus nods, Severus shakes his head, “No really, Headmaster, _everyone_ knows that.”

“What is your point Severus?” Minerva asks impatiently.

Severus rolls his eyes, “My _point_ , Minnie, is that no one is going to try and kill Albus fucking Dumbledore with a _snake_. This wasn’t an assassination attempt, it’s a warning. Whoever this is, they’re screwing with you,” He concludes.

Lucius looks at him in exasperation, “You have been spending far too much time with Re.”

“Because I’m being practical and seeing plots everywhere?”

“No, because your language is foul.”

“Can we focus, please?” Poppy requests, they both turn back to the rest of the table.

“Why would someone be doing this?” Pomona asks.

Albus sighs, “Unfortunately, Pomona, there are a great many reasons and an even greater amount of people who would be willing to do this. For now, there is nothing we can do.”

“Wow, is this the Chamber of Secrets?!” Hermione shrieks as Harry leads his sister, two best friends, Neville, and Luna into the Chamber.

“Because that is not the plan!” Pansy hisses.

Blaise glares at her, “No, but it could work!”

“Both of you, shut it!” Draco demands as he notices the others walking up, Harry raises an eyebrow at them.

“Later?” Pansy requests sheepishly, Harry frowns but nods.

They all move into the room they’ve converted into a meeting room and sit around the table.

“All right, Pansy, how’s the translation going?”

“Well, actually. Do you remember when we were wondering about one of the entrances being in the girls’ lavatory and came to the conclusion that he must have been allowing a female student to enter?”

“It was Ayleth?”

Pansy nods, “By which logic, I sent Blaise to look at the boys’ bathroom on the floor and, low and behold, there’s another entrance. It leads into a different section of tunnels, but he managed to make his way here. It only requires the parseltongue to open.”

Harry nods, “Good work, both of you.”

“Why do those two entrances only take parseltongue, but the one in the potions’ lab and the one in the Slytherin Common Room, both use the blood seal?” Draco asks.

Pansy flips through some pages before her, “‘Merek came to me, an odd request on his lips. He asked that Helena be granted access to the chamber. Afraid was she that her mother’s schemes would not bode well for her, Merek wants her to have a safe place to hide. The girl is intelligent, I am certain she can learn the tongue of snakes, but Ayleth is already crying favouritism, demanding I allow Godric’s bastard child entrance as well. She is enthralled by his magic, but I cannot allow it in here. You often tired of my ways, yet try as you might I never learnt the one thing you craved to teach, acceptance. Perhaps in this I can teach them what you would have, perhaps I can do this one thing to make you proud. And proud you would be, of Merek, of Ayleth, and I pray, of me.’”

“Godric’s son, the one Rowena and Godric were afraid of?” Harry questions.

Pansy shrugs, “I don’t know. There’s mention of him having children in here, but they were all quite respectable human beings from what I’ve found. This ‘bastard child’, and I think he means that literally, is the only one he appears to have a problem with, so I’d say it’s likely.”

“This explains why the entrances are in such public places instead of places only accessible by Salazar and his children,” Blaise comments, Harry nods.

“You lot have been at this for a while, haven’t you?” Ginny asks, the four look over to see four surprised faces and a Luna.

“If you teach someone parseltongue fluently, does it get passed down their line?” Hermione asks, Harry shrugs, no one else seems to know except one.

Pansy nods, “Actually Mio, yes, it does. Everyone, be prepared to have your understanding of wizarding history warped once more,” She warns, the others sigh. Harry waves for her to continue, she’s buzzing with excitement to reveal what she’s found. “So, you know how everyone says Merlin was a Slytherin?” They all nod, she grins manically, “He was.”

“Okay?” Blaise asks in confusion.

Pansy rolls her eyes, “Literally, he was a Slytherin.” She’s met with blinking faces and confusion. “Merlin Slytherin.” Still confusion, “Oh for Merlin’s sake…heh, Merlin, anyway, Merlin Slytherin, younger brother of Salazar Slytherin!”

“Holy shit,” Hermione states, the sentiment is shared by all.

Pansy nods again, “Mmhmm, see, the Order of Merlin started off as…sort of a muggle rights organization. Merlin felt that wizards should help Muggles and live with them in peace. Obviously, this was a point of tension for the brothers.”

“That must have made Wizard Dine unpleasant,” Ron comments, Harry looks at him in confusion, “Wizard Dine, it’s an old term for the third Friday dinners.”

“Third Friday dinners? I think Remus mentioned them at some point but, what are they?” He asks, the rest of the room heave a collective sigh, Harry rolls his eyes, “Yes, yes, irritating half-blood doesn’t know wizarding culture, just fill me in,” He requests, they chuckle at his annoyance as Pansy does just that.

“Third Friday dinners, or Wizard Dine, is a dinner held on the third Friday of every month. Family gets together regardless of any drama or anything happening, and spend time together, catching up. The elder generations chose games to play, usually revolving around the gaining of knowledge, and you have a good time. Old, young, accepted by family or a relative outcast, for once, everyone is equal. The tradition tapered off after people started disowning family members entirely, but it was only two or three decades ago that it really dropped off completely. The Malfoys do something a bit similar during the summer holidays, apparently while Lord Malfoy and the others were in school, something happened and Remus decided to fix it and the dinners came back for a while, so they modified the tradition slightly after the war.”

“That’s why there’s such an emphasis on familial respect in pureblood society?” Harry asks, the others nod, “Huh.”

“Anyway, it did, in fact, make it awkward. All the more so because, as often happened in the Middle Ages, their parents died quite young. Salazar raised Merlin since he was ten and Merlin six. Though, three years after, Salazar met Godric whose mother took the brothers in, in exchange for Salazar’s help. She ran an apothecary, but Godric was terrible with potions, and his father wasn’t around for reasons unspecified in the diary. Merlin and Salazar grew up being raised as the best potioneers in the country.”

“This is just explaining so much,” Ginny comments.

Pansy nods, “They drifted apart even further when Salazar met a girl named Morgana shortly before Hogwarts was founded. He fell in love with her but…well, I’m sure even _you_ have heard of Morgan le Fay,” Pansy tells them, Harry shakes his head. “Good god man, did you even go to school?! Read a book? Anything?”

“Well I wasn’t exactly given a library! Besides, I’ve never really been very good at reading,” He explains sheepishly, “I was eight before I got my glasses so…”

“Is that why you’re so bad at potions?” Hermione asks.

Harry shrugs, “It’s hard to read and focus on a potion at the same time, the new book I have makes it better. The handwriting is easier to read.” Hermione frowns in confusion.

Luna nods, “It’s because of the magical imprint. Powerful wizards can leave the intent behind words in the paper sometimes, usually by accident, so you can feel what they’re trying to say,” She explains, “It attracts hallubogs though, so one must be careful.” Harry nods, the others wonder if he truly knows what a hallubug is or if he is just indulging her.

“That’s actually pretty cool,” Ron says.

Hermione nods, “Now if only we knew who the Half-Blood Prince is.”

The three Slytherins look up, instantly. “Sev,” They all say. The others look confused. 

Harry gasps after a moment, “‘A child I suspect he cares for’ He meant Snape,” He realises, remembering the curse his Father had used on him in the Graveyard after Cedric had – Harry cuts off that line of thinking.

Then Pansy suddenly stands, “Oh, oh! Harry, that seer Rowena and Godric were talking about, Lady Prince, it’s got to be an Ancestor of Sev. He has visions, not ones open for interpretation either, they come true.” Harry continues looking confused.

Blaise rolls his eyes, “His Mother’s maiden name is Prince.”

“Ohhh,” Ginny comments.

“How does that help us at all?” Harry asks.

Pansy sighs, “Particularly powerful visions of things far in the future can be passed down through generations of seers. It gets stronger the closer to the actual event it is, if we’re right then it should happening within Sev’s lifetime, he _must_ have seen the castle be destroyed. He might know who’s involved, and if he does, maybe we can stop it.”

“No one’s ever seen something that far into the future, we’re talking over a thousand years, Pans,” Blaise points out.

“There’s only one way to find out, we _have_ to ask Sev.”

“What’s this got to do with Dumbledore though?” Draco asks, the two stop bickering and look at him. “Fascinating as all this is, it’s not our problem.”

“What use is stopping Dumbledore if the school gets destroyed?” Hermione asks dully.

“All the information we’ve needed has fallen into our lap as usual, _ours_ , not someone else’s. That means we’re likely the only people who have it all, who know enough to stop it and save the school. We don’t have a choice, that’s how these things go,” Ron tells the others with a resigned and tired voice, an emotional state shared by Harry and Hermione.

Blaise frowns, “I always thought you lot went looking for trouble.”

Hermione scoffs at him, “All I wanted was to keep my head down and get through school unnoticed, to be just like any other kid. Harry wanted to get away from the Dursleys and be safe, to have a good time for once and not be some hated slave. Ron wanted to relax and just glide through school like his brother Charlie did. Believe me, none of us wanted any of it, but stuff happens, we get pulled into it, and if we don’t deal with it, people die.”

“Lot of pressure for an eleven-year-old,” Ginny comments, Harry smirks slightly, Hermione groans as Ron chuckles.

“Don’t say it Harry, don’t you dare.”

“…it’s almost like I’m –”

“Don’t finish that sentence!” Hermione screeches.

“…cursed.”

“I hate you so much.” Ron continues laughing, the others chuckle too. “That pun got old years ago,” Hermione complains.

“Your reaction to it gets better every time though.”

“Draco’s my favourite Brother.”

Harry pokes his tongue out at her, “So, you were saying about Merlin? Before we got entirely off track? Oh, and, someone does need to ask Snape about the vision,” He dictates.

“I will,” Ron says, everyone looks confused, he shrugs, “No one would expect me to be working with _them_ , so it’ll show your reach.”

“You’re just imagining this is one giant chess game, aren’t you?” Blaise guesses.

Ron nods, “If I beat McGonagall in death chess at eleven, I have maybe an 0.025% chance of outmanoeuvring Dumbledore, so I might as well try.”

Blaise debates something for a moment before turning to Harry, “I want to work with him.” 

Harry considers this and then nods, “Ron, you’re on tactics and security. Now, Merlin.”

“Right,” Pansy begins, “So, Morgan le Fay, also known as Morgana, the name she’s referred to as in the diary, is the half-sister of King Arthur.”

“Him I know!” Harry states proudly, Draco smiles encouragingly at him which Blaise and Ron both pretend not to notice for their own sanity.

“After Salazar voices his intention to marry a fellow Orphan, Morgana, Merlin tries to ‘feed him lies of his love’s vileness,’” Pansy quotes, “Tried to convince Salazar not to go through with it. He leaves, stating his intention to find out more about her because Salazar had insisted he didn’t need to know anything about who she was, only who she is now. That philosophy had come from Morgana herself, I think that’s why Merlin didn’t trust it. Anyway, that’s how he meets King Arthur. He comes back and once again tries to convince his brother she’s evil, but Salazar doesn’t listen, uses some creative insults when speaking of his brother from there on out. I don’t know exactly what happened, he doesn’t talk about his brother much again, only that Merlin joined King Arthur in attempting to bring her down and, in Salazar’s mind, committed the worst betrayal. It was this in particular that seemed to push Salazar over the edge about Muggles and blood purity, though, Morgana does seem to attempt to convince him otherwise. She truly does preach acceptance at every opportunity, which doesn’t fit with anything I know about her. Whatever her reasons, they were lost to history. Anyway, the reason I’m telling you all of this, is to finally answer your question properly Mio. Parseltongue _can_ be taught to another, the gift is then passed down in their lineage. Merlin and Salazar weren’t born Parselmouths, they were taught when they were children by Godric’s Mother. For some reason it didn’t get passed to Godric and, like potions, he showed no aptitude for learning it, nor interest in doing so. Because he didn’t learn the language, it ended in his family line at him. Still, he and the two Slytherin brothers were all practically brothers for a very long time, so he and his mother always considered it, and the apothecary, to be in the family still anyway.”

“How is this both the most adorable and most tragic story I’ve ever heard?” Draco asks.

Blaise snorts, “You should hear the full story of Sev’s childhood, _that_ _’_ _s_ both tragic and adorable. And then tragic again, and then adorable, and now it’s just a sodding mess.”

“Let’s hope it ends happier than this story does,” Pansy comments, “See, the entire diary is Salazar’s way of dealing with grief. At first, it’s sort of like letters to his parents, updating them on how he and his brother have been doing since they died, but as you’ll have noticed from the original sheets we found, it ends as though talking to Morgana herself, which lead me to two possible conclusions. One, they split up and he was hung up on her, or two –”

“She died,” Neville realises, flushing slightly when they look his way.

Pansy nods seriously, “I went looking for mention of it specifically, obviously I haven’t translated the diary of his entire life in one afternoon, but I did find it. Salazar doesn’t know the particulars, only that Merlin and Morgana faced off one final time, and neither walked away.” Everyone falls into an intense silence after that as they all consider the words and what it means for their history.

“What about Mordred?” Neville asks, Harry and Ron both look at him in confusion, “Mordred, often considered the son of Morgan le Fay.”

“That’s where things get…awkward.” Everyone turns back to Pansy. “There’s no mention of him.”

“Why does that make things awkward?” Draco asks.

“Because, it means that, if he did exist, Salazar isn’t his Father.” Everyone looks around awkwardly. “There are plenty of reasons and opportunities for this not to be about adultery but, given what we know of Morgana, and the history I _have_ read, I would stipulate that if he _did_ exist, the father is most likely to be either Arthur or Merlin.”

“That _is_ awkward,” Harry concludes, everyone else agrees.

“It wouldn’t have been hard to hide either, at the time Salazar was here and very busy, Morgana was the Queen of Avalon. They met frequently for a long time but never at Hogwarts, Godric wouldn’t allow it. That’s what initially started the tension between the two, and after Morgana and Merlin died and Salazar started to go off the rails about mud…muggleborns, well, things escalated.” Hermione looks at her girlfriend, very unimpressed, Pansy smiles sheepishly. “Remus is currently going through libraries, archives, museums, and all sorts, though no one knows why, except us. I’d like for him to be looking for reference to Morgana, Mordred, Merlin, or Arthur. Things not commonly known, I’d like to know what happened to Merlin and Morgana, and who Mordred really is.” 

Harry nods, “I’ll get the message to him.”

“Then that’s me done, for now. I’ve found nothing more about the potion but he _does_ speak about suspicions of Godric, I’d say it’s _definitely_ him he was afraid of.”

Harry nods to her again, “Good work.” She smiles happily.

“Father came to see me after the staff meeting broke up, he has news about the trial,” Draco tells them, everyone looks over expectantly, “It’s next week.”

“Next week?! That’s not enough time!” Hermione cries.

Draco responds calmly, “Mio, we have exactly two pieces of new evidence and they’re both in Harry’s head. We don’t have a proper defence, we have nothing to base it on, and if we aren’t careful, we’ll be admitting we were in kahoots with him while he was a fugitive.”

“They already _know_ that.”

“No, they know the Order was, Dumbledore refused to give any names of said Order members, only reason he isn’t in trouble is because Fudge gave him no choice but to take matters into his own hands and he made them believe it.”

“Hold on, _we_ were in kahoots? What did you lot have to do with it?” Ron asks.

“I helped Jamie hide him when he was here two years ago,” Draco admits.

“Really?” Harry asks in shock, Draco nods. Harry suddenly remembers questioning why his voice didn’t sound disused at all. “You’re who he was talking to.”

“I brought him food and kept him company, tried to heal his mind in some small way,” Draco explains, “I owed Jamie a favour of… _similar_ magnitude. Besides, she’s family, so when she asked for help, I gave it.” Harry smiles at him, Draco smiles back.

“That’s only one of you involved,” Ron points out.

Blaise shrugs, “I was living with Remus for a while before he moved to wherever he went after the raid. I didn’t tell the Aurors that Dumbledore and Remus were hiding him, therefore I was aiding and abetting the hiding of a fugitive.”

“Blaise talks in his sleep,” Pansy adds.

“You’re just coming up with reasons to be involved in case that does come out so that we don’t go down alone, aren’t you?” Hermione asks, Pansy nods.

“Well don’t,” Harry orders strongly, “That goes for all of this too. If I get caught, no one admits to anything. Don’t try to continue this on, don’t try and seek revenge, let it go and go on with your lives. None of you are going down for any of this, ever.” Everyone goes to argue, including Neville, but Harry holds a hand up, everyone is silent, “That is an order, and not one to be taken lightly.” Draco, Blaise, and Pansy look annoyed, but nod. One by one, the others do as well. “Good.”

“So, the trial is next week,” Neville says, bringing them back on topic.

Draco nods, “I’m hoping that everyone will still be focused on Dumbledore after this snake thing with Mel…ana?” Draco looks to Harry for confirmation, he nods, seeming pleased that Draco is referring to the snake by name. “Melana, comes out in the Quibbler and then, hopefully, the Prophet. Ideally, this entire trial flies under the radar until the Wizengamot votes. But we’ve got the whole of it, so I doubt it’ll stay under wraps for long.”

“At least Umbridge won’t be there this time,” Harry says, the others nod, “What did McGonagall have to say after reviewing our information?”

“Like you predicted, she requested she be allowed to keep it overnight. I’ve left it with her, I’ll be picking it up tomorrow, counting it out and everything, but she’s promised not to make copies, understanding it would blow the entire thing were he to find it before we have everything. She’s probably going to ask about what happened at dinner when I go to pick it up, how do you want me to handle that?” Blaise asks. Personally, he felt the action was rather rash and will only make things harder on them, but Harry seems sure of it and he _is_ the one who knows the plans for the future.

“Tell her that what you said remains true, everything we find of his past and present actions, along with plans for the future, will be revealed to the public who will then decide how to deal with it. The snake would never have hurt him, its purpose was simply to remind everyone that Hogwarts is not impenetrable, and Dumbledore cannot stop everything. When things come to light, we want him to be viewed as a person, as accountable for his actions as everyone else, not someone half the population worships out of either loyalty or fear. Assure her he is in no danger from us.”

“Is that true?”

“I’m not going to ask you to lie to Minerva McGonagall’s face, we’d be blown out of the water right there. So yes, it is true. A carefully chosen truth, but true nonetheless,” Harry replies, Blaise nods. “Luna, let me know when your Father wishes to interview a snake,” He requests, she nods, looking pleased that he remembered.

“Did you kill Danielle?” Neville suddenly asks, looking as though it’s been on his mind for a while. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all look to Harry rather suddenly. Harry taps his fingers on the table repeatedly as he debates something, then he leans forward, ceasing his tapping.

“Did you know, that after the first wizarding war, Fenrir Greyback was not sent to Azkaban?” Everyone seems confused, most shake their heads, a few nod. “He’s never actually been arrested, the closest he’s been was when Lyall Lupin insisted he was a sadistic beast who learnt to control his monster just enough to set it on young children, no one believed him until Greyback left proof in the form of one Remus John ‘Moony’ Lupin.” The confusion doesn’t lift off of anyone’s faces. “Danielle Smigin had the unfortunate luck to have gone holidaying in a forest cabin in Albania along with her family three years ago. This forest happened to be where Greyback was hiding at the time, she was bitten.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Blaise asks, voice carefully controlled as he reminds himself that Harry is perfectly accepting of Remus’ condition and isn’t going to have targeted this girl for that reason. He can’t help being protective of his Remus though, given how often the man has protected him.

“Dumbledore allowed her to attend the school on the condition she be taking wolfsbane the entire time, which he would provide. Started doing so a few months before coming here. Unfortunately, she’s allergic to newt’s eyes. There isn’t much in wolfsbane, not enough to be lethal. But, as it turns out, after repeated use, it is enough to begin being seriously debilitating. Still, he wouldn’t give in. They were all too happy to help discredit the man and they needed to get away from here and from him anyway before the potion caused permanent damage. I asked Remus to go and see her, try and teach her to mesh with the wolf as he has so that she can find control too. I assume he’ll be doing so whilst out doing whatever personal research it is he’s running away to do. So no, Neville, we did not kill her, we saved her.” 

Neville smiles, just slightly, and nods. 

“Guess I do know you after all.”

After the meeting breaks up, Ron heads down to Snape’s office, being fairly certain the Dungeon Bat will be there. He knocks on the door and waits to be invited in.

“Weasley?” Snape asks, confusion clear in his voice.

“Inimicus has a question.”

Snape raises his eyebrows, “And he sent _you_ to ask?”

“Hey I just do what I’m told, didn’t even know you were following him until today,” Ron replies, which is true.

Severus nods, “What’s his question?”

“Did you ever have a vision of the school being demolished in a battle?” Ron asks. For once, Snape’s shock is perfectly clear on his face, Ron nods, “Guess you really are the Half-Blood Prince,” He adds, more to himself than Snape.

“How exactly is Inimicus getting all this information?”

Ron shrugs, “Dunno, guess he just has a lot of people feeding it to him. Can you tell me about this battle?”

Severus lets out a shaky breath, “I had the vision when I was about…fifteen, I think? It was in the courtyard, there were people and creatures everywhere fighting each other, the place was in shambles. I didn’t know who he was at the time, only that he looked like James, but I saw the scar, and after I had a vision about Godric’s hollow I realised who it was. I saw Harry running across the courtyard, he cast the killing curse like it was nothing,” Severus tells him, Ron frowns in concern, Severus nods, “There were so many dead, from both sides. Minerva was fighting alongside the students, they were fighting Death Eaters. The battle was inside the castle too, I saw a man. I didn’t recognise him but I recognised his scars, quite distinctive, and realised it was a decades older Remy. He was killed in front of me by a man I now know to be Antonin Dolohov.”

“That’s intense,” Ron comments dumbly.

Severus rolls his eyes, “Unfortunately a lot of the details are a little fuzzy, it was twenty years ago. I may well know more about it now if I could see it again but, unless Inimicus has a pensieve handy, I don’t know anything else.”

Ron nods, “Thanks, Professor. I’ll get that to him.”

“How did you come to be involved in all this anyway?” Severus asks.

Ron shrugs, “Gryffindor sense of justice.” Severus rolls his eyes, Ron leaves.

Shortly after he leaves, Severus’ phone rings.

“Hello?... …Did you just say Vienna?... …Assassinated?... …What the hell?”

When Ron tells Harry what Severus had to say, Harry looks out the window in their dorm pensively. “How very curious.” Then his eyes light up and he grins, “I have an idea.”

Remus is sitting in a bar in France. He knows he probably shouldn’t even be in the country everyone knows he loves so very much but, well, he really loves it. His phone starts ringing and he looks at it in surprise, answering it and putting it to his ear.

“I have to say, I didn’t think I’d be hearing from you for a while,” Remus says, he hears a huff on the other side.

“You can’t just say hi like a normal person?” Severus asks in exasperation.

Remus takes a gulp of his drink, “Nope.”

“Where are you?”

“Out.” 

Severus huffs again, “How much have you had to drink?”

“You know, I could have sworn we got divorced.” Remus grins slightly, feeling the anger radiating down the phone line in the silence. 

He hears muttering in the background before Severus speaks again.

“I need you to meet me at Black Manor.” Remus looks at his phone in surprise, quickly finishing the rest of his drink. “Remus?”

“Hi, can I get two shots of gin?” Remus orders after flagging down the bartender. The drinks are placed in front of him and he downs them both, ignoring the sigh on the phone. “What the bloody hell do you want to meet there for?”

“No one will look for us there.”

“Because they know I won’t go there.” Remus hears talking in the background once more.

“No, will you just let me deal with this?” Severus asks, though his voice is faint so he’s pulled it away to speak to the other person. Remus waves his hand at the bartender for another shot which he immediately drinks. “Okay look just, stop drinking for a moment.” Remus glares though Sev can’t see it. “I promise you this has absolutely nothing to do with war or wizards or anything like that at all, it’s a totally Muggle world problem with a convoluted solution that we need your help with. Please, will you come?”

“Who is we?” Silence greets his question for long moments.

“It might be better if you just come and see.” Remus raises an eyebrow despite knowing it won’t be seen. “I can practically _feel_ the eyebrow raise.”

“Oh good, I was concerned you’d miss it.”

“Will you just back off and let me do this?” Remus hears an annoyed response of some kind but can’t quite make out what is said. “Please Remus, just trust me.”

Remus sighs, “Fine.” He hangs up the phone, getting another shot before paying his tab and leaving the pub. He goes down an alleyway before taking a deep breath and then apparating to his old home.

“Ah good, you’re here,” Severus says when he walks into the entrance hall, rolling his eyes at Remus’ stumble as he turns to face him, “We’re in the study.”

“Weren’t like two people murdered in here?”

“Three actually,” Lucius voice replies as the two enter the room.

Remus looks surprised to see him but smiles and hugs the man, “Lucius, long time no see. I hear you’re working at the school now.”

“Yes, he’s even managed to prevent Draco and Harry fighting to a certain extent,” Severus tells him. Remus chuckles, looking impressed.

“Who in God’s name thought it was a good idea for you to be a teacher?” A voice comes from behind Remus, Lucius rolls his eyes.

Remus turns in absolute shock to see the face of someone he truly thought he’d never see again, “Severus, what the fuck is happening here?”

“I told you, we need your help,” He replies, Remus gives him a bewildered look before turning back to the voice.

“It’s nice to see you too, Brother,” Phia Lupin says with a smirk.


	21. 50 Ways to Say Goodbye

Chapter 20 – 50 Ways To Say Good Bye

Note: Chapter Title from Train’s song ’50 Ways to Say Good Bye’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“_ _Severus, what the fuck is happening here?_ _”_

_“_ _I told you, we need your help,_ _”_ _He replies, Remus gives him a bewildered look before turning back to the voice._

_“_ _It_ _’_ _s nice to see you too, Brother,_ _”_ _Phia Lupin says with a smirk._

Now,

“Oh, your Brother, am I? Must have missed that in the _decade_ it’s been since you spoke to me.”

“It’s hardly _my_ fault we stopped speaking.”

“IT WAS YOUR DAMNED DECISION!”

“YOU MURDERED SOMEONE, REMUS!”

“HE KIDNAPPED YOU!”

“YES, BUT YOU DIDN’T JUST MURDER HIM, YOU FUCKING USED MAGIC TO FORCE HIM TO KILL HIMSELF!”

“DO YOU THINK I’VE SOMEHOW FORGOTTEN THAT?!”

“I THINK YOU SOMEHOW FORGOT TO CARE!” The two stand glaring at each other and breathing heavily.

“ _What_ do you want?” Remus asks, ignoring Lucius looking to Severus in concern at Phia’s words, Severus just shakes his head.

“Your help.”

“Funny way of asking for it.” As Phia takes a deep breath to calm herself, Remus takes a moment to take in his sister. Her hair is cut into a short wavy bob with a fringe, and something about her just seems older, more mature. A decade will do that, he supposes.

Phia looks up at him again, “I know what it’s like to have to do something a bit less than ethical to protect what you love. That’s why I’m here. I wish you hadn’t done it, wish he weren’t killed in _my_ name. But I understand now, and I’m sorry I left you, again.”

Remus is completely shocked but nods, “I’m sorry it came to that.” It’s all he can give her, she knows, she nods.

“I’ve got a bit of a situation on my hands and I need your help to solve it.”

“How is it that Severus and Lucius came to be involved?” Phia looks awkward for a moment, sharing a look with Severus who seems sheepish. Remus notices and narrows his eyes, “So…how long have you two been talking without telling me?”

“Erm, we…never really stopped.” Remus just nods, not speaking.

“Re?” Severus asks carefully.

Remus pinches the bridge of his nose, “I cannot work out if I’m too sober or not sober enough for this.”

“We really need to talk about your alcohol intake,” Lucius tells him.

Remus glares, “Why are you here exactly?”

“Right, that would be the convoluted side of the plan,” Phia says.

“What plan?! What is even happening right now?”

“Okay, here’s how it is. The King of Vienna-”

“Vienna is a city, wouldn’t he be the King of Austria*?” Remus interrupts.

Phia nods, “Yes but as Vienna is the capital and where the royals reside, it’s sort of like the rest of the country is lead by Vienna, so by being King of Vienna you lead the country. It’s a thing with the locals, and not the point.”

“Right, continue.”

“The King of Vienna liked my books.” She pauses for a moment, looking emotionally overwhelmed, and Remus just has absolutely no idea what’s going on right now. “He came to a book signing, we went to coffee afterwards and things sort of progressed from there.”

“Progressed as in…?”

“We got married a year later.”

Remus blinks at her for a moment before clearing his throat, “What happened to you being a Lesbian?”

“I found someone I loved so much it didn’t matter.” 

Remus scrunches his nose up, “Could you _be_ more of a sap?”

“Oh, just because you don’t have a romantic bone in your body!”

“Phia, we really need to get back to school soon,” Severus warns.

Phia nods again, “Right so, over the past two years, a lot of the royal family died in various ways, people started thinking we were all cursed and grew concerned the family would die out altogether. A few months ago…Adalbert, my husband, was assassinated.” Phia breaks off again, Remus walks forward and hugs her without thought, she buries her face in his chest as he holds her.

A few moments later she pulls away, nodding at him, he steps back again.

“There’s only one member of the family left, Adalbert’s cousin, Reginheraht. He’s the one that killed the rest of his family, made it all look like an accident except Adalbert’s. By the rules of the kingdom, given we have no heirs, the throne is mine and will remain mine if I marry within the year, otherwise it falls to Reginheraht. He offered to marry me so that I might still care for my country, but that bastard killed off his entire family to get that throne, I _can_ _’_ _t_ leave my country in his hands.” 

Remus nods, “Okay, so what is it you need from me?” Phia cringes awkwardly for a moment, Remus looks to Lucius and Severus who both look away, “Guys?”

“I want you to use your voodoo like you did on Derek and get him to step down and sign the country over to my blood line, then he has no claim to the throne and I don’t need to get married.”

Remus blinks at her, “I’m getting punked, aren’t I?” None of them speak. Remus walks over to the desk, pouring himself a cup of the whiskey still in the decanter. He swallows it down before turning back. “Okay, side stepping all of the obvious moral issues with this, what about the statute of secrecy? This is highly illegal!”

“That would be where my presence comes in,” Lucius tells him. Remus looks to him expectantly, he holds up a vial. “The convoluted part.”

“The rest of this _wasn_ _’_ _t_ the convoluted part?”

“We want him to do a blood adoption of you,” Severus says.

Remus crosses his arms and looking like he just can’t accept that those words came out of his ex-husband’s mouth. “You do realise this will change what I look like, right? People will notice.”

“I’ve altered it ever so slightly, at most it’ll change your eye colour,” Severus tells him.

Remus suddenly looks at him, “Eye colour? Blood…blood…blood…” Remus mutters, the other three exchange confused looks. “Sev, don’t you see, _that_ _’_ _s_ what he did to Harry!”

Severus’ eyes widen as he catches on, “That’s why the protection works! Oh, that’s brilliant. I mean fucked, but also brilliant.”

Remus nods, then shakes his head and goes back to the previous conversation, “Why exactly am I getting adopted?”

“Because, should we get caught, you’ll have the protection of a Malfoy, everything that goes with that. The best lawyers, social standing, people will look at you and see a Malfoy, not a Werewolf,” Lucius replies.

“You realise that both legally and biologically speaking that would make you my Father, right?”

“No, it won’t. I got the blood from both my parents. With Severus’ alterations, it still shouldn’t change your appearance much.” Remus seems uncertain.

Phia grabs his forearm, “You used to say you’d do anything for me. Please, help me save my country.” 

Remus looks at her, then sighs, holding out his hand for the vial which Lucius hands over. “Bottoms up.” He drinks the potion. A few moments later a ripple goes through him, Remus appears quite a bit younger, as in his true age rather than his premature aging age, and his eyes change from green to the typical Malfoy grey. 

Lucius gives Remus a strange look, Remus raises an eyebrow. “Hm, Purebloods may be right about blood purity after all.”

“What?” Severus asks incredulously, knowing Lucius has never bought into that crap.

“You seem younger. Lycanthropy causes stress on the body and can cause premature aging. We know that a Werewolf bite will kill Muggles, so clearly they are less equipped to handle it. You seem younger, as I said. Technically speaking you are now a pureblood, and apparently that means your body is able to handle Lycanthropy better.”

“Which means half-bloods’ wizard genes are _actually_ diluted…” Remus realises.

Lucius nods, “I don’t think it affects their magic, but I do think it means magic will die out in their line fairly quickly if they don’t breed with wizards.”

“And Muggleborns?” Remus asks, ignoring his sister’s obviously waning patience now that wizards were being discussed. Quite hypocritical if you ask him, given she just used a potion to help her country but, needs must he supposes.

“I imagine it’s something of a clean slate, a way to keep reintroducing pure wizarding blood into the population, preventing it from dying out.” Lucius is frowning, thinking this all through rapidly.

“Right, while you think through wizarding genetics, which is actually incredibly interesting, perhaps we should get back to this,” Severus suggests, Lucius hums his agreement though he seems very distracted.

“So what now?”

“Now, we go to Austria.”

Remus goes over to the desk in the study, grabbing a sheet of paper and a quill.

_Inimicus,_

_So, long story, SS can explain, but I will be out of contact for a few days. I_ _’_ _ll be back by the trial though, I promise._

_I_ _’_ _ll see the girl before the trial, but there_ _’_ _s a slight possibility this will go very wrong, so I have a favour to ask in case it does._

_All of my research is being kept safely at my old place of employment, the owner can be trusted and will be able to continue on with my work. For several complicated reasons, I can_ _’_ _t write to there directly. If there is someone in your ranks not openly associated with either of us in any direct sort of fashion, would you please have them write a letter or even pop into the shop, Bridge_ _’_ _s Potion Supplies, it_ _’_ _s in Knockturn Alley. Just speak to Bridget and tell her Wolfie asks that Budgie continue what he_ _’_ _d been doing. And that I_ _’_ _ll explain later. Oh, and she will probably have all the answers you need about Arthur and Merlin, whatever the reason for your asking me to look into it._

_I wish you luck,_

_Metum_

“Severus, do me a favour, I need you to pass this on for me without reading it,” He says, handing him the now folded up letter. Severus raises an eyebrow, Remus smirks, “Strange things happening around Hogwarts lately, eh?” He comments quietly. Remus can’t tell if Severus seems surprised, impressed, or exasperated, but all the same he nods, pocketing the letter.

“Strange indeed.”

Remus grabs Severus’ arm just as he and Lucius go to use the floo and return to Hogwarts.

“Tell them it’s from Metum,” Remus says to Severus quietly, the man barely reacts, merely nodding and joining Lucius. Remus stands, looking around the room, for a moment before nodding, “Yep, fuck this place.” Then he leaves with Phia, contemplating how hard it would be to burn down a manor of this size as he goes.

When Severus gets back to Hogwarts, he bids Lucius adieu and heads to the Slytherin Common Room.

“Parkinson,” He calls as he walks in.

Pansy looks up from her book, getting up and following him when he walks out. “Professor?” 

He pulls the note out of his sleeve in a sharp movement, handing it to her. “Give this to Inimicus, it’s from Metum.” Pansy calmly puts it in her pocket and nods, Severus nods back and leaves, vaguely wondering when this all became so organised and smoothly running.

That night at dinner, Pansy sits between Hermione and Harry, surreptitiously slipping the letter into his pocket without interrupting conversation or looking his way, Harry doesn’t react at all. 

After dinner, once safely in his four-poster, Harry pulls out his enchanted parchment, “Draco.”

_\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Amans,_

_I either need my cloak or you to go to the restricted section tonight._

_Inimicus_

_\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

A few moments later he gets a reply.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_What am I looking for?_

_Also, Addens says that letter (What letter?) is from Metum._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Harry raises an eyebrow in surprise, pulling the letter out of his pocket and looking at it, he puts it aside for the moment.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Anything to do with helping a seer recall a vision._

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_If it_ _’_ _s a prophecy that was made aloud, you could find who is involved and get it from the Hall of Prophecies, couldn_ _’_ _t you?_

_\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Harry frowns at the message. Snape’s vision wasn’t spoken aloud which means it’s not a prophecy and the orb won’t be there. But Lady Prince’s vision a thousand years ago _was_. Of course, Pansy said they grew more focused as it got closer to the event occurring, so that may be useless. Plus, the Hall of Prophecy wouldn’t have existed, so there should be no orb. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Nope._

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_I_ _’_ _ll have a look_

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That done, Harry returns to the letter from Remus.

_Inimicus,_

_So, long story, SS can explain, but I will be out of contact for a few days. I_ _’_ _ll be back by Sirius_ _’_ _trial though, I promise._

_I_ _’_ _ll see the girl before the trial, but there_ _’_ _s a slight possibility this will go very wrong, so I have a favour to ask in case it does._

_All of my research is being kept safely at my old place of employment, the owner can be trusted and will be able to continue on with my work. For several complicated reasons, I can_ _’_ _t write to there directly. If there is someone in your ranks not openly associated with either of us in any direct sort of fashion, would you please have them write a letter or even pop into the shop, Bridge_ _’_ _s Potion Supplies, it_ _’_ _s in Knockturn Alley. Just speak to Bridget and tell her Wofie asks that Budgie continue what he_ _’_ _d been doing. And that I_ _’_ _ll explain later. Oh, and she will probably have all the answers you need about Arthur and Merlin, whatever the reason for your asking me to look into it._

_I wish you luck,_

_Metum_

“All right, Harry?” Neville asks as he and Ron enter the room, Harry hums slightly.

“What’s going on, Mate?” Harry chucks the letter to him, Ron reads over it, “Who’s Metum again?”

“Moony. We figured that name is probably too well known now.”

“And Pansy loves naming things,” Ron adds, Harry nods.

“My Gran goes to that store a lot, she mentioned Not-Professor-But-Always-Professor Lupin used to work there, but he quit a while back. I could ask her to pass along the message?” Neville offers.

Harry nods, “That’d be brilliant, thanks Nev.” Neville nods, “Hey Neville…” Harry trails off.

“Yeah?”

“Do you have many pictures of your parents?”

Neville seems surprised but shakes his head, “My Gran has a bunch of my Dad from when he was a kid, obviously, but the only one of he and Mum is their wedding day.” 

Harry pulls his photo album out from underneath his bed, “Hagrid contacted old friends of my parents a few years ago looking for photos of them for me, a few of them have your parents in there too. I thought you might like some copies.” Neville smiles, nodding. “Oh, there’s actually one in here of you, me, Sirius, Uncle James, and your Father.” He flips through to find it and shows Neville who seems entranced.

“I never realised we knew each other as kids.” 

Harry nods, “Moony said he and Snape used to baby sit us. Our parents were friends and, with everyone busy fighting the war, we, along with Jamie, were often passed throughout the group together to whoever was free at the time. Also, we watched Bambi a lot,” Harry tells him.

Neville laughs, “I’ve no idea what that is. Must be a Muggle thing.” 

Harry shrugs, “I’ve not seen it, but I’ve heard of it.”

“You guys should get Remus to show you sometime,” Ron suggests, the two seem excited by the idea. Ron’s happy his best mate is forging so many connections with his past lately. He was worried he might be forgotten or left behind, but it’s not Hermione or Neville he first approached and trusted with this business about Dumbledore, it was Ron. Well, okay it was the Slytherins, but out of his friends it was Ron, and it proved to Ron that even if he gains more family, he and Harry will always be the best of friends, and brothers in their own right.

The next morning Harry finally gets a reply from his Father.

_Harrison,_

_I hope your lesson went well and that my true identity is secret enough to not give you any trouble._

_When you say Uncle, do you mean James, Sev, Pete, Frank, or Remy?_

_What is it you want to discuss?_

_Regards,_

_Your Father_

Harry groans in frustration. When Ron looks over, Harry holds the envelope up, addressed to ‘Harrison’. Ron laughs at him while Hermione hits Ron and smiles comfortingly at Harry.

_Father,_

_My. Name. Is. Harry._

_When you say Uncle Frank, do you mean Frank Longbottom?_

_I want to talk about Uncle Moony. He told me months ago that you two were friends once, why are you having him hunted?_

_I did it privately so that only I and a teacher saw it. There was one surprising identity on there, I_ _’_ _m sure you can imagine which relative I am referring to. I_ _’_ _ll be getting an explanation on that when next we see each other._

_I_ _’_ _d like to say I hope you_ _’_ _re having fun but, given what I_ _’_ _ve heard of your fun, I should probably hope you aren_ _’_ _t_ _…_ _anyways, school_ _’_ _s good, Uncle_ _’_ _s on the run, and name is not Harrison, is Harry._

_Also, a snake tried to kill Dumbledore. It was actually pretty frightening, just came out of freaking nowhere and then I had to talk to it because no one else could and it was actually sent to kill him by someone named Iminicus, or possibly Inimicus, I don_ _’_ _t know, something weird. Did you have anything to do with that? Or is someone else trying to kill him?_

_He told us not to worry, said to trust him to protect us but_ _…_ _well, given everything that_ _’_ _s happened in the past, I don_ _’_ _t._

_Your Son,_

_ Harry _

Harry sends the letter off with Hedwig again, turning around just in time to see his sister’s face become as pale as her hair.

“Mio?” He asks in concern, Pansy’s eyes immediately snap to her girlfriend. Hermione calmly folds the letter in her hands and places it on the table, leaving her hand on top of it as she looks at it, nonplussed.

“Mio?” Pansy parrots, Hermione doesn’t look away from the letter.

“Hermione?” Draco asks, putting his hand on top of hers. She finally looks up, meeting his eyes. He sees the emptiness in them that he feels empathically coming off of her, just beginning to tinge around the edges with grief as whatever she read slowly sinks in. Then a sob escapes her mouth and she covers it with her hand. Tears begin falling as she gets up, running out of the Great Hall. Everyone watches her leave, Draco then picks up the letter, opening it and reading it.

“Draco! She might not want us to see,” Harry admonishes.

Draco rolls his eyes, “Be gallant all you like, I’m going to help our sister the best way I…” Draco trails off as his eyes widen, he gets up and sprints over to the teachers’ table.

“Draco?” Lucius asks as his son comes bounding over to him, his concern for his daughter clear in his eyes even as the rest of his face remains carefully blank. He had felt her heart slowly break and knows that Draco must have as well. Such is the curse of true empathy. Draco hands over the letter, Lucius reads through it quickly before he gets up, striding out of the room. Draco takes a deep breath, heading back to the table and trusting his Father to be the right one to deal with this.

“What’s going on?” Ron asks when he retakes his seat.

Draco looks worried, “She got a letter from her carers,” He tells them, his face morphing into anger rather quickly, “I’ll let her tell you if she chooses to.”

Hermione doesn’t tell them, doesn’t speak to them, doesn’t leave her room for a day.

But the next morning she’s at breakfast, and not happy.

“Morning, dear Sister,” Draco greets, Hermione looks sad but also happy and very confused. Harry goes to speak but is distracted with another letter.

_Harry,_

_Yes, I do mean Frank Longbottom, did no one tell you of he and your Aunt Alice?_

_Remy has something I need and if I don_ _’_ _t find it, then I am afraid I will need him to tell me where it is. I have little choice._

_This snake had nothing to do with me, I assure you. One wonders what this individual thinks they are doing, though I am glad to hear you are growing wise to the Old Man_ _’_ _s tricks._

_It is good that school is going well for you, I shall save us both the trouble of a hard conversation and speak nothing of my own activities._

_I assume you are referring to Delphini. No, the spell did not make a mistake. I trust this teacher will remain quiet about such things?_

_Your Father_

“So um…” Hermione begins, “The Willows have decided not to be my parents anymore. Mr Willows lost his job and they can no longer afford to have two children,” She tells them, gasps are heard all around and instantly three people are hugging her, she smiles sadly, “As such, the Ministry has to obliviate them, like they did the Grangers, and they’re going to forget they ever knew I existed.”

“But you can stay with your father, right? Now that you know about each other?” Lavender asks.

Hermione sighs, “For several complicated reasons, which, by the way, you and I need to _talk_ later,” She tells Harry pointedly, Harry grimaces nodding, “No, I can’t. Remus is my God-Father and, due to recent events which I think the three of you will find of particular interest,” She says to her brothers and Blaise who share a confused look, “Father seems to think he can gain custody of me, Werewolf or no.”

“Yes but, Uncle Moony’s on the run from Death Eaters, how is he supposed to care for you?” Harry asks, frowning in concern.

She sighs, “I really don’t know, but Father is going to get in touch with him as soon as he can about it. Unfortunately, he’s doing something at the moment and can’t receive post nor is he anywhere near a floo.”

“Sev has a mobile phone so that he can get in touch with Remus in case stuff like this happens, why not get him to call?” Blaise asks.

Hermione shrugs, “He mentioned trying it but didn’t seem to be holding out much hope of Remus being able to respond.”

“So basically, until the trial, we know nothing,” Ron realises, Hermione nods, Ron shrugs, “Worst comes to worst, you move in with us.” 

Hermione seems surprised but then a smile spreads across her face, “Yeah, I guess I do.”

_Father,_

_They did, I just never realised the extent of the relationship._

_Has it occurred to you that if he does not wish to tell you, nothing you do will be able to make him?_

_And yes, the teacher will stay quiet. Didn_ _’_ _t want me branded with your legacy._

_Harry_

“Did you guys see the Prophet this morning?” Blaise asks, everyone shakes their heads except Seamus who nods and promptly puts the daily edition in the centre of the group. There’s an article in it about Dumbledore, Harry, the snake, and Inimicus. Harry inwardly finds it amusing to see himself spoken about from two different perspectives in one article, but nothing other than concern shows on his face.

“You don’t think he’ll succeed, do you?” Ginny asks.

Harry frowns, “If anyone can stop him, Dumbledore can.” And not a lie was spoken. Everyone was pleased the plan with the Quibbler worked.

Lucius stalks into the Great Hall, an orange feather in his hand and McGonagall at his side. Harry can’t help but snicker, Draco groans, Hermione looks exasperated, and Ginny not-so-subtly high-fives Harry.

An hour after curfew, Harry sneaks into the Chamber and through it to the entrance in the Potions Lab. He hears Severus and McGonagall at the door and opens the passage a crack to see McGonagall leaving and Severus facing the other way. Harry creeps out, in full Inimicus gear, and is leaning against Snape’s desk when he turns around.

“Oh fuck!” Severus exclaims, Inimicus lets out a distorted chuckle. “What is it?” 

Inimicus pulls the letter from Metum out of his pocket, holding it up between his pointer and middle fingers on his left hand. “Metum tells me he has to leave for a time, says you can explain?”

“He’s in Vienna helping his sister take over the country.” Severus can’t see under the mask and thus does not know for sure, but he’s fairly certain Inimicus just blinks at him for a moment.

“Right,” He eventually says.

Severus looks amused, “Is there anything else I can help you with?” 

Inimicus stands up, pulling the Diadem out of his pocket and placing it on the desk with his gloved hands, “This is the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw.”

“What happened to it?” Severus asks, walking over and noticing its less than stellar condition. He also can’t help but wonder how the hell Inimicus ended up with a historical artefact of _legend_ that’s been lost for over a thousand years.

“That is what I am hoping you will be able to tell me. It was tainted with some kind of dark magic, I have reason to believe it held a piece of Voldemort’s soul.” Severus looks up in shock. “It is the second such object to turn up.”

“It sounds like a horcrux. It keeps him from dying, that must be how he survived to possess Quirrell. If there were two, there are probably more.”

“Will he be able to tell if they are destroyed?” 

Severus shakes his head, “I do not believe so.”

“Do you have any idea how many others he will have made? Or what they might be?” 

Severus frowns, crossing his arms, “No, but I think Dumbledore may have an idea. He found a ring some time ago. It’s killing him. It shouldn’t be able to be cured, but he seems to have a plan to do just that and is entirely unconcerned.”

Inimicus nods, Harry inwardly being glad that Severus has reached a point that he will tell him that, “Thank you for your help, Severus.”

“How did you get Potter to agree with showing his memories at the trial?” 

Inimicus smirks from behind the mask, “Potter would do anything for his best friends, especially now that one of them is his sister.” 

Severus frowns, “Blaise and Pansy spilt the blood purity test on her in Potions, if they cast the disillusionment spell on her as well…they did it on your order. This has been going on a long time…” Inimicus stays quiet as things fall into place. “But then you knew what she was hiding, or at least that she was hiding something. Even Potter and Weasley had no idea.” Inimicus says nothing. “How did you know?”

“When dealing with me, you will soon come to realise that there are some things you should not even bother asking about, there will be no explanation. Good night, Severus, and thank you for your help.” Inimicus walks out of the room, quickly pulling the cloak over him as he walks down the corridor, a spell on his shoes to make him silent. 

Severus moves to the door, looking down the corridor and finding it empty.

“How in the…?”

The next day, Harry is called into Dumbledore’s office.

“Harry, how nice to see you again.”

“Good morning, Headmaster,” Harry replies, taking a seat when directed to.

“This school has been rather chaotic lately, as I am sure you have noticed, so I have not been able to speak to you before now about certain things you discovered in Charms class.” Harry looks down at his hands, he’d been wondering when this would happen. “Mr Potter –”

“Please, sir. It’s Riddle-Potter-Black.” Dumbledore raises an eyebrow at him, he shrugs, “I don’t see the point in hiding from it.”

“Harry, you and I both know that your parentage does not dictate who you grow to be, you saw that first hand in Sirius.” 

Harry flinches at the name, not because he can’t stand to hear it, but because if Dumbledore still thinks he’s barely coping, any weirdness in his behaviour will likely be chalked up to that.

“To deny my Father is to deny my Mother and she has sacrificed enough for me without me dismissing her place in my life.” 

Dumbledore nods, apparently placated, “Now, I have heard about you staying with Professor Malfoy and young Draco.”

“They have been very kind to me.”

“I am sure they have, but you have a particularly volatile history with them. I wonder if you wouldn’t be more comfortable staying with the Weasleys or, perhaps, going back home to the Dursleys.”

Harry screws his nose up, attempting to calmly breathe through his growing anger, “With all due respect, _sir_ , that is not my home. I am never going back there, and as much as I love the Weasleys, I am quite happy where I am.”

“Now Harry, you saw first hand the side they have chosen in this war –”

“Sirius once told me that the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters.” 

Dumbledore nods, “A noble sentiment, but you must understand the danger you are placing yourself in.”

Harry tries not to snap, he fails, “As opposed to remaining in the abusive household _you_ left me in for fifteen years?” 

Dumbledore sighs, clearly, something would need to be done. “Harry, the reason –”

“I know. Blood protection. But they aren’t my blood, are they?”

Albus has three options here, and none of them are good. When in doubt, deny everything. “No, they aren’t.”

“Then you made a mistake and I will be staying where I am.”

“Of course.” 

Harry deflates, “I’m sorry Headmaster, I don’t mean to be rude, I’m just finally in a place where I feel at home and I don’t want to leave.”

Albus nods understandingly, nothing but care and compassion in his eyes, “You know I am only looking out for you.”

“I know sir, but at the moment, I need to look out for myself.”

 _Yes_ , Albus thinks, _Something definitely needs to be done about this._ Given the last time he allowed something like this to continue it ended with Bellatrix Lestrange, well, he has more drastic means of controlling the situation this time than he did when it was young Remus Lupin sat before him.

A few days later, Severus, Lucius, Hermione, Harry, Neville, Benoit, and Draco head to the Court house. The others had wanted to come as well but were unable to convince McGonagall and Severus that their presence is necessary. They were lucky Draco had managed it. Neville had been epic.

 _“_ _You see this here, Professor? This is my family, and that there is Sirius Black. Tell me again I have no reason to be there,_ _”_ _He says while showing McGonagall a photo Harry had made a copy of and given to him._ She had simply sighed and gestured for him to go with the others.

Lucius had been in touch with Arthur Weasley who had been surprised at Lucius’ involvement. After all of it was explained to him, the two worked together to plan the best defence they could under the circumstances. Obviously, Harry’s memories were all they had, though they had gotten in touch with Remus a few hours before they left the school. He claimed to have more information but he might be a tad late and “for god’s sake, stall them until I get there.”

“Right then, Harry, you ready?” Arthur asks him as the group walks into the room, everyone taking a seat in the stands.

“No, but, I’m going to do it anyway.”

“You’re a good man, Harry.”

“Thank you, Mr Weasley.”

“If we could have silence,” The Minister requests, everyone falls silent, “In the case of the people against Sirius Black, this trial begins. Now, Lord Malfoy, I believe you have new evidence?”

Lucius steps forward, “We would like to submit a previously un-viewed memory of Mr Harrison James Riddle-Potter-Black, the only witness of the crime Sirius Black was accused of left alive.” 

The Minister nods, “If Mr…Riddle-Potter-Black was it?” Harry nods. “If you would please take a seat whilst we locate a pensieve.”

“We requested one prior to this, it should be waiting outside,” Lucius tells him, Minister Scrimgeour nods.

The pensieve is brought in and placed in front of Harry, floating in the air.

“Mr Riddle-Potter-Black, if you would?”

Harry hesitates, “Could I request that Professors Snape and Malfoy, Mr Weasley, Little Benni, and my sister all leave the room for this?” Lucius and Severus look at him in surprise, Arthur opening his mouth to argue when Scrimgeour holds up a hand.

“We will call you back in once the memory has been viewed.” They seem very unhappy but move to wait outside.

“You may want to go as well,” Harry tells Draco and Neville, neither move, “Very well, may I proceed Minister?” The man nods. Harry uses his wand to pull the memory of his Aunt and Uncle’s death from his mind, putting it into the Pensieve. A spell is cast on it that will allow the courtroom to view the memory.

_James Potter sits on the living room floor with baby Harry._

_“_ _Mio,_ _”_ _Harry says, looking around in confusion._

_James smiles,_ _“_ _Your sister is with Mummy and Uncle Moony, Harry. Remember? They left earlier._ _”_

_“_ _Un Moo!_ _”_

_James sighs,_ _“_ _You know, you are never even_ close _to this excited when I walk into the room. I_ _’_ _m your Uncle too, in case you hadn_ _’_ _t noticed._ _”_ _Harry blinks at him._ _“_ _And yet you get excited for Sev as well._ _”_

_Harry giggles,_ _“_ _Unc Sev._ _”_

_“_ _Are you terrorising our nephew, Potter?_ _”_

_James grins giddily as Lily walks into the room,_ _“_ _Now, when have I ever terrorised anyone,_ Potter _._ _”_

_Lily smirks,_ _“_ _How about every day of your life, you know, ever._ _”_

_“_ _Shut up, Evans._ _”_

_“_ _Shu up._ _”_

_James looks down at Harry with a frightened look,_ _“_ _Oops._ _”_

_Lily sighs, picking Harry up off of the floor,_ _“_ _Uncle James is naughty, isn_ _’_ _t he?_ _”_ _Harry nods, James laughs, then there_ _’_ _s a bang at the door._

_James turns around, eyes widening as he sees it is not Sirius._ _“_ _Lily, it_ _’_ _s him, take Harry, I_ _’_ _ll hold him off!_ _”_ _Lily holds Harry tight as she rushes up the stairs, but as Harry looks over her shoulder he sees a flash of light and his Uncle fall to the ground._

_“_ _Unca?_ _”_

_Lily shuts them into the nursery, suddenly very glad Hermione is not here. Lily puts Harry in his cot._ _“_ _Harry. You are so loved. Mummy loves you Harry, Daddy loves you._ _”_ _The door is blown open, Lily spins around, seeing Voldemort enter the room._

_“_ _Stand aside,_ _”_ _Voldemort demands._

_“_ _No. Tom, please, fight this. This isn_ _’_ _t you, you_ _’_ _re possessed by Voldemort, you can beat it,_ please _._ _”_

_“_ _Foolish girl, I said stand aside! I will not allow my son to be hidden from me any longer._ _”_ _Lily stands her ground. Voldemort raises his wand,_ _“_ _Avada Kedavra!_ _”_ _Lily_ _’_ _s eyes widen as the spell comes towards her, instinctively diving out of the way of the thing she knows will kill her. The spell hits Harry._

_“_ _HARRISON!_ _”_ _Two voices scream. Harry blinks in confusion, both Voldemort and Lily freeze in confusion as well. Then Harry_ _’_ _s eyes start glowing green._

_“_ _What are you doing to him?!_ _”_ _Lily demands of Voldemort._

_“_ _Anything that happens to him now is on you!_ _”_ _The glow grows ever brighter before a wave of energy sweeps throughout the room, flattening Lily to the ground and sweeping Voldemort backwards and out of the window. Footsteps are heard before a man comes into the room._

_“_ _Unca Worm!_ _”_ _Harry says desperately, beginning to wail in fright at everything that has happened. Peter Pettigrew looks around, he looks out the window and finds Voldemort gone before he kneels down beside Lily._

_“_ _I am so sorry Lily, I_ _’_ _m so sorry. I had no choice, I had to tell him. I_ _’_ _m so sorry. Forgive me, forgive me._ _”_ _What that he looks over at Harry, sparing a forced smile to the toddler before rushing out. Harry wails in despair and fright and confusion._

_A few minutes later, Severus Snape comes running in, promptly looses his shit, and then leaves again. Ignoring all cries of_ _‘_ _Unca Sev_ _’_ _from the traumatised Harry. Mere moments after that Sirius shows up._

_“_ _Harry!_ _”_ _He calls instantly rushing over to the child._

_“_ _Dada!_ _”_

_Sirius holds his son close, trying to calm him. He kneels down beside Lily,_ _“_ _Oh Lily, oh Merlin I_ _’_ _m so sorry,_ _”_ _He says, crying into his son_ _’_ _s shoulder as much as Harry cries into his._ _“_ _Don_ _’_ _t worry Harry, don_ _’_ _t worry, everything is going to be fine. I_ _’_ _m going to find him. I_ _’_ _ll find that traitor and I will kill him and everything is going to be okay._ _”_ _He carries Harry out of the room, covering his eyes and preventing him from seeing either corpse again._

_“_ _Who_ _’_ _s there?_ _”_ _A voice calls out._

_Sirius pulls his wand out as he walks through the broken door and finds a large man in the yard. He sighs in relief,_ _“_ _Hagrid, it_ _’_ _s me._ _”_

_“_ _Mr Black, Headmaster Dumbledore sent me. Says I_ _’_ _m supposed to take the boy so he will be safe while he sorts everything out._ _”_ _Sirius nods, looking, to present-day Harry, rather frantic._

_“_ _Right, right, um, here, take my bike,_ _”_ _Sirius tells Hagrid, fishing the keys out of his pocket and handing them to Hagrid,_ _“_ _Harrison, I will be back, okay?_ _”_

_“_ _Dada!_ _”_ _Harry cries, reaching out for him._

_Sirius kisses is forehead,_ _“_ _I will be back._ _”_

_“_ _Dada!_ _”_ _Sirius apparates away._ _“_ _DADA!_ _”_

Harry gulps as he’s thrown out of the memory along with everyone else. Everyone is stunned into silence. Harry stares, frozen as he feels what his one-year-old self felt at the time, fear, a lot of fear, and anger. He didn’t know children so young can even feel anger like that, but his younger-self had known someone had hurt his Uncle, had known his Aunt was hurt. Everyone was loud around him and no one would listen to his cries and he needed help and no one would help and his baby self was _angry_.

“I can see why you asked the others to leave,” A member of the Wizengamot states. Harry just swallows harshly, blinking away tears. The others are told to come back in, all instantly checking on Harry who says nothing. He’s glad about the flicker of regret he sees in Snape’s eyes at forcing his hand about this, then remembers the pain he witnessed in the man not a moment ago and instantly forgives him.

“Is there anything else the defence would like to add?” Scrimgeour asks. 

Lucius and Arthur exchange looks, looking to the door and back again, knowing they could stall no more, “The defen –”

“Wait!” They look to see Remus Lupin rushing in, Benoit’s face lights up.

“What is _he_ doing here?” Someone asks.

Remus rolls his eyes, “Well fine, if you don’t _want_ Peter Pettigrew in custody, I guess I’ll just leave.”

“Mr Lupin,” Scrimgeour calls, exasperated. Remus nods, walking forth. “What are you talking about?”

“I –” Remus turns around, rolls his eyes, “One moment.” He walks back to the door, opening it, “Oi, idiot, this room!”

“Sorry!” Everyone looks over at the voice, then Peter Pettigrew walks in.

“What the fuck?!” No one is quite sure who spoke, but all agree.

“Now, if I might be permitted to speak, I would like to prove Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and, slightly irrelevantly, Bellatrix Lestrange, innocent of all crimes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Austria is not ruled over by a royal family, I made all of that up.
> 
> So, to clarify, Phia had a very loving relationship with Adalbert that was probably not particularly physical for the most part seeing as she’s not attracted to men, it would have been a much more emotionally centred relationship though other acts may well have occurred occasionally. Phia still considers herself a lesbian, and is certain that Adalbert is the only exception she could make to that.
> 
> Also! It wasn’t particularly clear in this so I thought I’d just quickly explain, the blood for the adoption came from Lucius’ parents. Both parents are dead, I’m sure you remember his father dying but his mother died ‘off screen’ as it were. But, as we saw with the whole Zombie creation incident, wizards keep preservation charms on their dead and as such Lucius was able to retrieve the blood years after their death.


	22. It's Where My Demons Hide

Chapter 21 – It’s Where My Demons Hide

Note: Chapter Title from Imagine Dragon’s song ‘Demons’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Remus stands looking around the room for a moment before nodding,_ _“_ _Yep, fuck this place._ _”_ _Then he leaves with Phia, contemplating how hard it would be to burn down a manor of this size as he goes._

Now,

Remus side-long apparates Phia to an alleyway near the palace, she then leads them around to the front gate.

“And you used to tease me about the Manor,” Remus murmurs, Phia chuckles.

A bloke at the gate says something to Phia in German that Remus thinks is probably a greeting, Phia smiles gracefully as she nods and replies. The bloke then turns to Remus and says something to him, but Phia intervenes.

“Oh, my apologies Herr Lupin, welcome to Vienna,” The man says in English.

Remus smiles, “Thank you, Sir.”

“Come along, dear Brother.”

Phia and Remus walk into the palace, Remus stopping to look at every second painting and every single shiny thing.

“Honestly, Rem! Come on! You are not a blasted Meerkat!” Remus glares at her but is quickly distracted by the next room’s chandelier. “Oh for goodness sake, WE ARE NOT HERE FOR YOU TO SIGHT SEE, YOU GREAT BUMBLING IDIOT!”

“Is everything all right, your Highness?”

Phia spins to see a maid behind her, she smiles charmingly. “Quite so,” Phia replies, “Merely attempting to keep my easily distracted brother _on target_!” She explains, hissing the last bit at Remus who walks back in with a huff.

“All right, all right, let’s go.”

“Reginheraht,” Phia calls as they walk into a study. The familiar name is then followed by a bunch of German that Remus does not understand. He stands around awkwardly, waiting for his sister to give him a cue of some kind. The man she speaks to, he has to admit, looks like your stereotypical bad guy. Dark hair, clean cut, moustache, fancy shiny shoes, the whitest teeth imaginable, a paternally patronising feel, and a gleam in his eye like he knows more than anyone else in the room. Remus doesn’t like him.

“How nice to meet you Herr Lupin, I was not aware Queen Sophie had a brother.”

“Yes, well, the Queen is certainly full of surprises,” Remus replies, since when does Phia not punch people for using the first part of her name?

“Now, down to business. Reginheraht, I have decided to turn down your offer of marriage.”

The man raises an eyebrow, “Oh? And who is it, pray tell, that you have chosen to marry?”

Phia takes a calm breath, smiling kindly, “No one. I wish for you to renounce your right to the throne, and thus leave the country to my own blood line.”

Reginheraht gives a startled laugh, “You must be joking, yes?” Phia stands her ground. “Have you obtained a recent head injury?” Phia stands her ground. “Oh you are mad. What could possibly possess me to do that?” Phia flicks her eyes to Remus and nods slightly. Reginheraht looks over to him as well.

“You will renounce your claim to the throne and leave it to the Queen’s blood line.” His eyes glow yellow, then Reginheraht’s do as well. Reginheraht goes to the study’s desk and pulls out a piece of paper along with a pen. He begins writing something. It grows to three pages long before he puts a wax stamp on each page along with his signature. Finally, he rolls it all up and ties it with a ribbon, handing it over to Phia.

“Come with me, we’ll need to do a press conference. Luckily, they are already awaiting us,” Phia leads the two men to what appears to be a throne room. She walks up, nodding to Remus.

“You will go up and complete the process of renouncing the throne and leaving the country to the Queen and her bloodline,” Remus tells him, their eyes flash again before Reginheraht walks up.

There is a bunch of German spoken, but then Reginheraht reads out the scrolls he’d just written. Lots of flashes of photos and questions later, Phia appears to close it all.

“Thank you, Loopy,” Phia tells him.

He smiles, “You good from here?” he asks, she nods. “Keep in touch, your highness,” He says with a dramatic bow.

She rolls her eyes, “There will be a coronation in the next few weeks, will you attend?”

Remus smiles, nodding, “Of course. Anything for you, Phia.”

After finding his way out of the castle, Remus apparates to Cardiff where he plans to go and find Danielle.

It’s three hours later that he stops, the hair on the back of his neck standing up, he hears a spell cast and spins to block it. Remus’ eyes lock with Avery before a spell hits him from the side and the world fades to black.

“Remy,” A voice calls, even mostly unconscious the name sends shivers down his spine and makes his skin crawl, “Remy!” Remus’ breathing picks up, he tries to pull away from the hands grabbing him, “Come on Remy, wake up!” Remus blinks his eyes open, seeing a cell he panics, pulling away from the hands harshly and dragging himself away only to hit a wall that burns him. He shrieks in pain, falling to the side back towards the hands. He starts hyperventilating as he tries desperately to understand what is happening, then hands take a hold of his face. He scrunches his eyes shut.

“No, please, please, not again, no,” He chants in a broken whisper.

“Remy, look at me, please,” The voice begs, Remus shakes his head, trying frantically to get free. “REMUS JOHN LUPIN, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!”

Remus freezes, he knows that voice. Shaking violently, he forces himself to open his eyes. In front of him, a face he was very sure he would never, could never, see again.

“H-How?” He asks, still breathing heavily and partially fighting her grip.

“Remy, take a deep breath, slow and deep.” 

Remus shakes his head, renewing his fight, “No, no, not real, not real. Let me go, please let me go, please.”

“Remus, please, you need to calm down. I am real, I promise.” Remus continues shaking his head, wondering how he, a Werewolf, is being so overpowered in strength by a figment of his imagination. “Remus, do you remember when we were kids? We were in Hogsmeade, the first time Phia went there, and someone mentioned something to do with Muggles. It got me thinking about things Muggles would understand that others wouldn’t. I yelled out Marco and a whole bunch of people yelled out Polo, your Father used it to find you and Phia.” 

Remus looks at her again, tears in his eyes, “You died, Mary, you died.” 

His old friend, Mary Macdonald, looks at him and shakes her head, “No, he made you think I did.”

“He who?”

“That would be me,” A voice says as the door opens, Remus spins, instinctively pulling Mary behind him as he stands, Voldemort grins, “Do you like the cell? Greyback’s been watching over it for me for years.”

“Why?” Remus asks breathlessly, eyes shiny with tears of disbelief, rather obviously about Mary and not Greyback. He’s so worked up, so afraid. Again in a cell, again at this man’s mercy. But Mary is alive and how can that be? How can she be here, and how can he get her out? He has to get her out.

“You didn’t really think your dear Wormtail would turn on you to save his own skin, did you?” Remus’ eyes widen. “No, he did it to save hers.”

_“_ _He has something I want, I_ _’_ _m not letting him go until I get it._ _”_

_“_ _And you don_ _’_ _t care how many people, innocent people, are hurt or killed beforehand?_ _”_

_“_ _No, I really don_ _’_ _t._ _”_

_“_ _I really hope it_ _’_ _s worth all this._ _”_ _Peter gives a small smile._

_“_ _It is to me._ _”_

“Oh Pete,” Remus says quietly.

Voldemort laughs, “Yes, poor, dear, Peter.” Then his face grows serious, “Now, you have something that I want, and I will get it from you.”

“No, you won’t,” Remus replies, but there really is no part of him not giving away his fear right now. His trembling, his wavering voice, the tears in his eyes, his still heavy breathing, and now he’s feeling light-headed, or had he always been?

“I see you’ve already discovered the lining we added to the wall,” Voldemort says, gesturing to the side of Remus’ face and his hands. Remus looks at his hands in confusion, seeing the burns there. He doesn’t remember touching a wall. They’ve been talking for thirty-seven seconds, and for forty seconds before that Mary was trying to calm him down, but it stings too much to have been very long before. Clearly it occurred during his panic attack, which could not have been more than a minute long.

“It’s silver, right?” Mary asks, voice rough and scratchy from disuse. Remus startles out of his numbered thoughts at the sound of her voice, Voldemort ignores her.

“Now, where is it, Remy?” Remus flinches at the name, Voldemort laughs again, “It’s a shame, I had faith in your ability to recover from your last stay with us, but alas, you show yourself as weak as all the others. Tell me, _Remy_ , how long will you last this time?” 

Remus is quite visibly terrified, then he laughs, rather hysterically, “What do you have left? You’ve already broken me, and I still gave you nothing. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN THIS TIME? SHE’S DEAD, WHAT DO YOU HAVE LEFT?” 

Voldemort smiles, “Yes, she is. I killed her. I hear you got to watch it happen, though I’m still unclear on how, exactly, you managed that. You watched her die just like you watched your lover boy perish at her hand.” 

Tears fall from Remus’ eyes as he counts his breaths, trying to slow it, “What could you possibly have left to take from me?”

“I may not have her anymore, but I can certainly have your friend Peter do the same thing. Do you really think he won’t?” Remus swallows harshly as Voldemort raises his wand, pulling Mary to him, “After all, I have this one.”

“Leave her out of this.”

“Tell me where it is.” Remus says nothing, he can’t let Voldemort get that necklace. “ _Cruicio!_ ” Remus screams as he drops to the ground. Here’s the thing about the cruciatus curse, it’s the worst pain imaginable. He can imagine a lot more pain than most humans can. He quickly loses count.

“Why do you want it?!” Remus cries after the spell ends, scrambling to find his numbers, find his place, to have _something_ to hold onto and centre himself with because it’s so much, there’s so much, and he can’t _he can_ _’_ _t!_

Voldemort’s jaw twitches, “The war is not exactly going my way but, with the potion, I can turn the tide in my favour. The Order will have no hope. Tell me!” Remus says nothing again. “ _Crucio!_ ” Remus screams, writhing on the ground. He holds it longer this time and quickly follows it up with, “Sectumsempra!” He leans down slightly, healing the cuts just enough to keep Remus from bleeding out.

Remus looks at him and forces every bit of determination and dedication and hate and fear and happiness and everything in one single command.

“Let us leave and do not come after us.” The words seem to echo around the room, Voldemort’s red eyes glow yellow and, for a moment, he fancies that he can see Ariana’s eyes do so as well. He lets go of Mary who rushes over to Remus within a second and a half, the two go to the door. “Mary, I can’t open it.” Mary moves behind him, opening the door he cannot even touch, the two turn and run, leaving Voldemort in a trance behind them.

“Oh damn, bright,” Mary says, lifting her hands to cover her eyes as soon as they make it out side. She stumbles, breathing heavily. Remus lifts her up and apparates to Knockturn Alley, immediately walking into Bridge’s Potion Supplies.

“Wolfie!” Bridget greets as Remus walks in, then notices he’s carrying someone bridal style. 

He puts the person on the ground, their arm over his shoulders as they lean heavily on him, “Is he here?” She nods, gesturing him up the stairs and following him as they climb up. Remus stumbles slightly as he carries Mary up the stairs, taking eleven seconds to make it instead of what he calculates to usually be about three to five seconds, “Pete!” Peter comes rushing into the room.

“Moons?” Remus puts Mary in a chair and shuts the curtains, “Mary…” 

Mary looks up, seeing Pete. Tears fill her eyes, “Hi.”

“What’s going on?” Bridget asks, Remus looks between the other three before just shaking his head and moving shakily to the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of Muggle Vodka and chugging half of it in _literally_ ten seconds flat.

“Bad day?” Peter asks him.

Remus wipes at his mouth, “I do not ever want to talk about today. Meanwhile, ‘he has something I want’?!” Peter grimaces sheepishly. “Why the bloody hell didn’t you subtly find a way to tell someone?” He asks incredulously.

“Because I couldn’t work out how, I was just a scared kid, Rem.”

Remus nods, sighing. “Don’t be angry at him, he only did what he did to protect me,” Mary tells Remus who nods.

“I forgave him already anyway.”

“Always waiting?” Mary asks.

Remus’ lips quirk, nodding, “Fuck, what’s the day?” He asks, sounding rather overwhelmed.

“Wednesday,” Bridget replies, having put together a reasonable idea of what’s happened.

“The trial!” Remus says, cursing under his breath.

“What trial?”

“Sirius’. Lucius helped get a re-trial, tomorrow we’re using Harry’s memories to prove Sirius’ innocence.”

“And my guilt,” Peter adds.

Remus looks at him and then at Mary, who seems very confused, before gulping down more of his drink, “Maybe not.” Remus pulls out his phone, calling Severus.

“Finally, where the hell have you been?”

“Busy, the trial is tomorrow?”

“Yes, listen, Remus, we need to talk about Hermione.”

“What about her?” Remus asks, brain fuzzy as he tries to focus on Severus and not break down under the weight of just everything.

“The Willows are giving her up,” Severus tells him, desolation in his voice.

Remus frowns, unable to really think though he tries to push that out of his mind. His numbers aren’t helping, he’s so out of practice. How long is one supposed to wait to respond after bad news? When is it appropriate to speak? Eventually Remus takes a shuddering breath, “What do we do?”

Severus pauses for 3.3 seconds, confusion, Remus assumes, over his out of place very long pause, “We’re hoping you can take her. You’re a Malfoy now, you should be able to get custody.”

“Severus, I’m also a homeless drunk and a Werewolf, how the hell am I supposed to look after a child? I can’t even properly care for Benni and Jamie anymore.”

“Stay at Grimmauld Place again with her.” Remus glares at the phone, fear momentarily forgotten, overshadowed with the thought of seeing the man who killed his unborn child again. “For Hermione, Remus. God-Father duties.” 

Remus sighs, “You’re her God-Father too.”

“I’m also nothing but an ex-Death Eater in the eyes of the law, they won’t let me gain custody of a child.” 

Remus nods though Severus can’t see him, “All right, fine. Listen, about the trial. I’ll be there, but I might be late. I have something they need to see so for god’s sake, stall them until I get there.”

“We’ll do our best.” After hanging up, Remus turns back to present company where Bridget is attempting to explain a mobile phone to Mary.

“All right, we need to get you to a hospital, Mary. Tomorrow there’s a trial. Peter, you’re coming with me, I’m going to prove you innocent, and Sirius, and Bella.” Peter raises an eyebrow at him, he nods. Peter looks to Bridget who gives Remus a searching look.

“Tell me you can do it, tell me he will come home to us.” 

Remus moves and holds her shoulders, “I told you that I would not be the reason your daughter grows up without a Father. He will come home, he will be declared innocent, and the two of you _will_ be free to raise your daughter without fear of being found out, not by the law anyway.” Bridget nods, then looks to Peter and nods again.

“All right then,” Peter agrees. 

Remus moves to Mary, “I need to get you to the hospital,” He tells her.

Mary nods, “You need to go as well, Remy,” She tells him, holding her arms up for him as he lifts her. 

Remus tenses, trying to calm and not lose himself in panic once more. He ignores the tears in his eyes, biting his lip and putting the name as out of his mind as he can manage, “I’ll be back tomorrow,” He assures Pete and Budgie, ignoring Mary’s statement to the worry of the two, before disapparating with Mary. 

Peter pulls Bridget close, “Everything will be okay soon, I promise.” 

Bridget sighs, leaning in to her partner, “Promise me, once this is done, no more war. No Death Eaters, no Order, just be a Father.” 

Peter nods, then pulls away from her, kneeling on one knee, “A father, and a husband?” He asks, her eyes widen, “This works out and we can get married, like we’ve always dreamed.” 

She smiles, tears in her eyes as she nods, he stands again, wrapping his arms around her, “Hey, where _is_ Rema?”

“Napping.” Bridget sighs, nodding.

“I need help here!” Remus calls out as they appear in the hospital, healers instantly coming over.

“What’s her condition?” Someone asks.

“I’m not sure exactly, but she’s been a prisoner of war for eighteen years.” One of the healers look at him in horror. “You-know-who,” He says, confirming the person’s suspicions.

“Please head to the waiting area, we’ll be with you shortly,” The healer directs, gesturing to a small waiting area that Remus immediately heads for, breathing easier as he feels the rapidly consumed vodka beginning to take effect.

It’s an hour and a half later that the same healer walks out and over to him.

“She’s going to be just fine.” Remus sighs in relief. “We need her name for records and some other information, do you know anything about her details and medical history? Anything you can tell us will be a help, she’s sedated and won’t be awake for a few hours.”

Remus nods, “Yeah um, her name’s Mary Macdonald, she’s thirty-seven. Um, born on the 16th of September 1959. We met when we started at Hogwarts in the same year, I don’t recall her ever being seriously ill or injured in that time but we believed she was killed during the first war, in 1978,” Remus tells him.

“She was declared dead?” The healer asks, Remus nods, “We’ll have that corrected. Any allergies?”

“Uh, she’s allergic to cinnamon, that’s all I think.” That had been funny to find out, sort of. His ‘wand’ had caused some issues.

“History of alcohol or drug abuse?” 

Remus shakes his head, “No, in fact she very rarely drank.”

“Any living family?” Remus shakes his head. “Do you know anything about her family’s medical history? Were they wizards?”

“Her Mother was really sick at one point but I don’t know what with. Her parents were both Muggles, she had no siblings.”

“How long was she fighting in the war?”

“A month, she joined as soon as we finished school.” The healer looks pained at this, Remus can understand why, he nods.

“What is your relationship to her?”

Remus sighs, looking pained himself, “Just a friend.”

“An Auror will be around to speak with you soon, oh, and I need your name.”

“Remus L-er-Malfoy.” 

The healer seems shocked, “Right, we’ll get right on this, Sir Malfoy, would you like to sit with her while we await the Auror?”

Remus withholds the annoyed sigh at suddenly getting more cooperation just because of his new family name, but as that had been the point of the adoption, he just moves on. “Yes please. What’s her condition?” He asks as the Healer leads Remus to her room.

“Extreme malnutrition, her left elbow was broken at some point and crudely healed. Sensitivity to light, I’m assuming she was kept in a dark area?”

Remus nods, “A dungeon cell.”

The Healer nods, “She’s in surprisingly good condition given the circumstances.”

“He had to treat her well, she was a means of controlling someone else. Would’ve been counterproductive to harm her when her safety was being bargained for.” The Healer nods, adding that to the file. “When will she wake?”

“Not for at least another three hours, she should be awake within six though.”

“There’s a trial tomorrow, one her presence would really sway in the innocent party’s favour, is there any chance at all she will be able to testify?” 

The healer frowns, “Assuming she wakes and appears cognizant, she should be able to as long as she is only there so long as she is needed and is back here as soon as her part is concluded.” Remus nods. “I’ll re-evaluate when she wakes, and again an hour after that, but chances are reasonably good.” 

Remus nods again, “Thank you, healer.”

One hour, twelve minutes, and fifty-four seconds later, the door opens again. Remus looks up, expecting an Auror to question him. Nymphadora Tonks walks in the door.

“Rem!” Remus smiles slightly. “I was expecting a Malfoy…” She says with a frown of confusion.

Remus lets out a humourless chuckle, “Blood adoption, long story, but I’m Lucius Malfoy’s brother now.” 

She raises an eyebrow but nods, then looks to the bed, “Mad-Eye’s mentioned her, you know. I hear she’s the reason you joined up.” Remus nods, closing his eyes against the tears. “How’d you find her?”

“They caught up to me,” He replies in a small voice, clenching his fists against the tremors, “Without…without Bellatrix around, he needed someone else just as damaging to question me. Never got around to calling him in though.” Remus curls in on himself more as he speaks, tears falling as everything hits him once more.

“Do you want me to get Severus here?” She asks after a few moments of tense silence. She’s never seen him like this. She knows what happened to him, of course. Mad-Eye had told her after the Order was recalled. She’s heard stories of what he used to be like, the almost blood-thirsty leader had never quite matched with the mild-mannered Professor she’s known for years now. Nor had his stories of what Remus had been like when he’d first been rescued. Suddenly, she believes all of it without a doubt.

“No, he’s…he’s busy with something far more important than me.” 

Tonks frowns, moving forward and sitting in the chair beside him, “You are important, Remus.” 

He scoffs and brings the conversation back on topic, “Mary and Peter Pettigrew had been in a relationship for years when we thought she’d died. Voldemort had planned to use her as leverage to make him-um… _question_ me,” He tells her bitterly, eyes flashing into something far more wolf-like for a moment before he seems to try and make himself even smaller. 

Tonks fights back her own tears, unable to imagine what could have possibly reduced her friend to this, “Given everything I’m afraid I have to ask, how much have you had to drink today?” 

Remus chuckles slightly, “Um, about half a bottle of what I think was Vodka.” 

She nods, “Good, just making sure you aren’t pissed. Were you anyone else and that may have been a problem with that amount,” She tells him disapprovingly, though she’s beginning to get a better idea of why he drinks like he does. So much of himself he had hidden, and yes, she _knew_ , but she could never have imagined. “How long ago were you captured and how long did you remain their prisoner?”

“Yesterday afternoon they captured me, we escaped ten minutes before we arrived here,” Remus replies, _and fifty-four seconds_ , he adds in his head.

“Why didn’t you come straight here?” 

Remus sighs, moving and taking Mary’s hand in his, “Because at the time I wasn’t exactly in the best headspace. I just knew I needed to get Mary and myself somewhere safe. I took her to my old place of employment, my old boss, she’s a good friend of mine. She calmed me down and told me to take Mary here.”

“I’ll need to speak with her.” 

Remus nods, then looks at Tonks out of the corner of his eye, “Dora, would you be able to do me a favour, as a friend.” She frowns at him, nodding. “Wait until tomorrow afternoon to do so.” Her frown deepens. “It’ll make sense then, she should be here at that point anyway.” 

Tonks sighs, “This is so against protocol, but fine. You owe me though, majorly. I could get suspended for this.”

“Thank you,” He tells her seriously.

She smiles gently, nodding, “How’ve you been, anyway? I haven’t seen you since you quit the Order.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a stranger and more eventful and bizarre year of my life as the entirety of the last one has been, even before I quit.” 

Tonks chuckles, nodding, “I can certainly relate to that.”

“Forget the last year. The weirdness started when Sirius escaped and hasn’t stopped since.” She nods her agreement. “God, I’m going to have to catch Mary up on everything,” He realises.

“When’s she going to wake up?” 

He sighs, rubbing at his forehead, “Not for another two hours at least, but she should wake within three hours after that.”

“Do you want me to wait with you?”

Remus smiles rather brokenly at her, “I’d appreciate that, but you should know, she’ll remember you as a toddler and baby.”

“That’s happened a lot over the past few years.”

Remus nods slowly, “Yes, I suppose it has.”

Five hours, thirty-eight minutes, and forty-three seconds later, Tonks is asleep against Remus’ side, his arm around her to prevent her from falling, when Mary begins waking up, squeezing the hand Remus is still holding onto hers with.

“Mary?” 

She blinks her eyes open, seeing him, she smiles slightly, “Not a dream?” 

Remus shakes his head, “Not a dream.” She immediately starts crying in relief, he moves his hand to cup her cheek and wipe away the tears.

“Waz’appenin?” Tonks asks as she wakes up, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes before taking in her surroundings, “Ah, you’re awake, how are you feeling?”

“Tired, weak, a little achey, but okay. Do I know you from somewhere?” Mary asks.

Remus nods, “Drom and Ted’s daughter.”

“Nym –”

“Don’t!” Remus says quickly, “She goes by Tonks,” He tells her.

Mary looks mildly amused but nods, “It’s nice to see you again, Tonks. You’ve certainly grown since last time I saw you.”

Tonks chuckles, nodding, “Well, I’d have been what, three?” 

Mary nods, “Something like that, yeah.” 

The healer walks into the room.

“Miss Macdonald, I’m Healer Ava Richards, it’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling?” Mary repeats the answer she gave to Tonks. “The weakness will be from malnutrition, aching will be from the sudden use of muscles you haven’t used in years. I’ll give you something for that, should clear up in an hour or two. I need to put these drops in your eyes so that you can handle light properly again,” She tells her patient who nods and follows her directions. After that and a few potions, they are left alone again.

“I should get back to work, I’ll be back to take your statement in a few hours,” Tonks tells Mary who looks confused.

“She’s an Auror, Mad-Eye trained her.” 

Mary looks amused, “Drom must be so very happy.” Tonks grins and waves good bye as she leaves.

“Will you be all right if I go and check in with Pete and Bridget?” 

Mary nods, “Come back soon?” 

“I’ll be half an hour at the most.”

He apparates back to outside the shop and walks in, heading up to the apartment above the store.

He hears cooing and sneaks into the nursery to find Rema awake. He picks her up, wincing as he realises he hasn’t gotten around to healing the slashes yet and his body is still aching something terrible from the cruciatus curse.

“Hi there, Princess,” He greets.

The child giggles, “Uncie.”

“Want to help me wake your parents?” She doesn’t understand him but claps happily.

They sneak into the bedroom, Remus places Rema on the end of the bed, she crawls up to her parents, sitting in between them and kissing her Father on the nose, he jerks awake.

“Dada!” 

“Rema, what the-how did you…?” Remus clears his throat, Peter sits up, pulling Rema behind him and grabbing his girlfriend’s wand off the nightstand to point at him, “Oh for Merlin’s sake, Moony, don’t do that!” 

Remus chuckles, “Trial is in two hours, I need your phone.” 

Peter grabs it from the dresser as he gets up and chucks it at him, “Why?”

“To leave with Mary so I can let her know when it’s time to come to the courthouse.”

“Shouldn’t she stay in the hospital?” Bridget’s sleepy voice asks.

“Morning, Budgie,” Remus greets, she smiles and waves, “She’s allowed to come testify in your favour and then return to the hospital.”

“Are we sure this is going to work?” Peter asks.

Remus nods, “I’ve got a plan. Oh, also, I’m nicking the rest of your vodka.”

“Is that a good idea before a trial?” Bridget calls out as he leaves the room with Rema while she and Peter get dressed.

“Before this one? It’s an absolutely _splendid_ idea.”

“Is it legal?” Peter asks, joining him in the kitchen.

“So long as they don’t find out.”

“I’m not sure that’s really how the law works?” Remus waves a hand in dismissal, Peter rolls his eyes. “Remus, you should know, I didn’t kill those muggles either.” 

Remus looks at him, seeming to Pete as though he is scouring his soul for any hint of truth or lie, then he nods.

“Okay.”

Remus consumes the rest of the bottle, says he’ll be back to get Pete soon, and then returns to the hospital.

“What’s the verdict?” Remus asks after Healer Richards finishes checking over Mary.

“I’m willing to allow her to attend the trial, but I’ll need both of you to sign some paperwork, accepting that it’s probably not the best idea but you’re doing it anyway and I’m entrusting her to your care, Mr Malfoy. She’s to come right back here when she’s done.” Remus nods. Mary and he sign the forms before he hands Peter’s phone to her and shows her how to answer and hang up so that he can let her know when to come. Ava says she’ll help Mary through the floo when it’s time, and Mary will need to remain in a wheelchair because she is too weak to walk.

All of that done, Remus heads back to Peter’s place, borrowing a shirt without slashes in it and spelling his pants clean with a quick scourgify to get rid of the blood staining.

“Go to the hospital in an hour, we’ll be there. Just ask for Mary Macdonald’s room,” Remus tells Bridget who nods, taking her daughter from Peter after he hugs her good bye.

“This will work out, you’ll see,” Peter assures her.

Bridget takes a deep breath, nodding, “Good luck, both of you.”

When they reach the Ministry, Remus and Peter walk as quick as they can while trying to draw as little attention as possible. Eventually they make it to the right room, though Peter has gotten distracted by another door, not that Remus notices that. Remus vaguely hears them about to end the trial when he bursts into the room.

“Wait!”

“What is _he_ doing here?” A member of the Wizengamot asks distastefully.

Remus rolls his eyes, used to his status as a Werewolf being met with disgust but still annoyed by it, “Well fine, if you don’t _want_ Peter Pettigrew in custody, I guess I’ll just leave,” Remus says snarkily. 

The Minister, having dealt with Remus on a few occasions now, looks like he’d be rolling his eyes or facepalming, or both, if it weren’t a break in decorum, “Mr Lupin, what are you talking about?”

“I –” Remus turns around, a tad confused why no one has mentioned Peter, only to find he’s not there. Remus rolls his eyes, “One moment.” He walks back to the door, opening it and finding Peter looking at another door, “Oi, idiot, this room!”

“Sorry!” Peter says, looking chastised and nervous as he enters the room.

“What the fuck?!” Draco asks, though Remus doesn’t think he’s even realised he spoke.

“Now, if I might be permitted to speak, I would like to prove Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and, slightly irrelevantly, Bellatrix Lestrange, innocent of all crimes.”


	23. It Took Me By Surprise

Chapter 22 – It Took Me By Surprise

Note: Chapter Title from Maria Mena’s song ‘It Took Me By Surprise’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“_ _Now, if I might be permitted to speak, I would like to prove both Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and, slightly irrelevantly, Bellatrix Lestrange, innocent of all crimes._ _”_

Now,

“You what now?” Hermione asks before slapping her hands over her mouth, Draco snickers at her, Neville sighs at them both, Benni just seems glad to see his Père.

“Well, I must admit, I am interested to hear how you will manage this. Mr Pettigrew, you will have to be taken into custo –”

“Actually, Minister, unless you’ve decided to find Sirius innocent, he’s a suspect but he cannot be taken into custody,” Remus tells him, the Minister appears to regret life but gestures Peter over to the stands.

“Mr Lupin, if you would be so kind,” The Minister requests. Harry, Arthur, Lucius, and Severus all head and sit in the seats, far from Peter. Remus gives Peter a reassuring smile and ignores the others as he turns back. Benoit decides he’s seen enough and moves to sit beside Peter. Peter looks at him in surprise, he just smiles and then turns back to watch his Père.

“Mr Malfoy, actually,” He replies calmly, “Not Lupin.” 

The Minister frowns but looks down at a file and sees that it is indeed correct, Lucius facepalms as the kids watch on in confusion. “My apologies, Mr Malfoy.”

“Duress is a common law defence for those who commit crimes because they have been forced or coerced to do so by the circumstances or threats of another,” Remus begins, “To be ‘under duress’ via threat, the threat must be of death or serious injury to either the defendant or their immediate family or someone close to them.”

A wizengamot member, one who doesn’t appear to like Remus, sighs in annoyance, “Yes, we are aware of the law.”

“I bring your attention to the events that took place on the 8th of August 1978,” Remus continues, Arthur and Severus both shift, Peter looking at his hands dejectedly. 

It’s in that moment that Severus wonders if perhaps Peter did the exact same thing he did, switched sides for someone he loved. Severus gets up and sits on the other side of Peter as his son, taking his old friend’s hand. Peter looks up in surprise, and really, at this point, Severus is operating on the faith that his old friend had a reason, a good one.

“Always waiting,” He whispers, Peter’s tears fall from his eyes as a small smile breaks out.

“Mary Macdonald and her parents were murdered that day, by Death Eaters. Or so we believed. In truth, Mary was kidnapped and held hostage by Voldemort and, when he died, his left over followers for eighteen years. Specifically, Fenrir Greyback.” Remus’ voice wavers slightly at Greyback’s name, but he forges on.

“How is it that you know any of this?” Scrimgeour asks, “Or are you merely operating on the word of Mr Pettigrew?”

“I know this because I found her.” Severus gasps, Peter hunches in on himself some more.

“You found Miss Macdonald?” Remus nods.

“Where is she?” A member of the Wizengamot asks.

“In St Mungos. Her Healer has agreed for her to briefly come here, testify, and then return to the hospital. That is, if you’ll hear what she has to say?” Scrimgeour looks around the Wizengamot and is met with no objections, he nods to Remus who pulls out his phone, “We’re ready for you.” He hangs up, “They’re flooing over.”

“While we wait, is there anything else you wish to add?”

“Yes, Peter didn’t blow up those Muggles. Now, that one I am operating on the word of Peter for, I decided not to view his memories so that they remained un-viewed and you could be sure they were untampered with. If you wouldn’t mind?” Scrimgeour nods, Peter walks forth shakily, removing the memory from his head and putting it in the bowl.

_“_ _PETER! YOU BLOODY BASTARD!_ _”_ _Peter turns at the sound of Sirius_ _’_ _voice. Sirius stalks towards him, shaking with rage._

_“_ _You, how could you, you betrayed them,_ _”_ _Peter says, though his eyes shift behind Sirius, locking with those of Antonin Dolohov who stands amongst Muggles. Dolohov flexes his hand, drawing attention to the wand in it. Peter pulls out his own wand, pointing it at his finger and severing it._

_“_ _YOU_ _’_ _LL BE THE NEXT TO DIE!_ _”_

_“_ _You told him, how could you?_ _”_ _Peter asks, obviously distressed. His eyes keep flicking back to Antonin. Just as Sirius is raising his wand, Peter notices Antonin do the same._ _“_ _NO PLEASE DON_ _’_ _T!_ _”_ _Peter screams, obviously, from this perspective, to Antonin, then everything explodes. Peter shrinks into Rat form and scurries away. The memory fades and_ all are thrown back into their bodies.

“Oh Pete…” Peter spins, seeing Mary, a sob escapes him before he visibly pulls himself together.

“Mary…” Severus says. She’s in a wheelchair and looking basically like a skeleton at this point. Her face is sunken, she’s obviously malnourished, and so very pale. Her hair looks as dead as the rest of her does, but her eyes…they are haunted, yes, but as full of life as they have ever been.

“Sev,” She replies with a small smile, her voice is weak and scratchy.

“I think we’ve seen enough,” A Wizengamot member declares, the others agree.

“Those in favour of pronouncing Peter Pettigrew innocent on all charges?” Everyone raises their hands. “Those in favour of clearing Sirius Black of all charges?” Not everyone raises their hands, but it’s enough. Remus nods calmly. He watches Peter move to Mary, kneeling beside her wheelchair and taking her hand.

“Are you okay?” 

She nods, “I will be, thanks to you.” 

Remus looks away. He’s happy, truly, but he wishes so badly that could be he and Sirius. Though preferably without the girlfriend and child to complicate matters. “I have another matter to bring up,” Remus tells them all, holding back the instinct to wrap his arm around his middle as he feels a small trickle of fresh blood from his wounds, everyone falls silent, “The fact that Sirius was given no trial to begin with.” No one interrupts or speaks. “Every suspected Death Eater was given a fair trial, all but Sirius. He didn’t even have the bloody mark and still he was just thrown in there. I ask, who the hell were those of you sitting where you are now back then, to decide that a crime was so horrendous the suspected did not even get a trial? What sort of logic is that anyway? Why did no one push the matter?”

“Did you have a point, Mr Malfoy?”

“Yes Minister, my point is simply that the system sucks and everyone involved should have done better. He should be alive right now and he isn’t because a bunch of people who did not even _fight_ in the war decided he was guilty. _That_ is my point.” Everyone is silent once more. “Oh, and, actually, Bellatrix Lestrange –”

“Ah yes, you are about to convince us that Bellatrix Lestrange is innocent?” Rufus asks. Neville seems rather off-put by the prospect. Harry remembers that it was her who tortured his Aunt Alice and Uncle Frank. Harry puts an arm around Neville comfortingly.

“Was. She’s dead.” Everyone seems surprised by this, except the students, Peter, Lucius, Arthur, and Severus, of course.

“She what?” Mary asks, Remus winces. “Oh Remy, I’m so sorry.”

“N-No don’t, don’t just shh,” Severus tells her, putting a hand over her mouth to prevent her from continuing speaking or calling Remus that again, she raises an eyebrow, he removes it.

“How is it you became friends with them again?”

Severus sighs, “What even was 1978, seriously.”

“Guys, for real, in the middle of a blasted trial, do you mind?” Remus requests, though those who know to look for it see the strong tremor in his balled-up hands, “She was, in fact, innocent. At the beginning of the first war, Bellatrix fought with the Order of the Phoenix, _against_ Voldemort. Then, after being captured with Peter on a mission, Sirius and I tried to rescue them and it did not go to plan. A spell was cast on her, one known as the moral reversal spell. It’s exactly what it sounds like, reverses the morals of a person. Sirius tried to save her by re-casting it, but it shattered her mind. For years she was, well, we all know how insane she was,” Remus tells them, struggling to keep his composure, “In the end, Voldemort killed her because she had somehow regained enough of herself to turn on him once more.” Remus stops speaking, unable to continue at the moment, but by this point it’s enough to have them listening.

“Mr Pettigrew, might we view your memory of this as well?” Another member of the wizengamot requests. Peter nods, walking back over to the pensieve and removing the memory from his mind, placing it in the dish and viewing it to show the court room.

_“…_ _bastards_ _–”_

_“_ _Bella, for real, bitching and moaning is not going to get us out of here,_ _”_ _Peter tells her._

_She sighs,_ _“_ _I know, I_ _’_ _m sorry._ _”_ _They hear a crash, both looking up as the door opens by an invisible force, then Sirius pulls off the cloak of invisibility._

_“_ _We heard you might need some back up._ _”_

_“_ _We?_ _”_ _Peter asks as Sirius undoes the chains binding them._

_“_ _Remy_ _’_ _s upstairs._ _”_

_“_ _Told you he_ _’_ _d come,_ _”_ _Bellatrix tells Peter with a grin._

_Peter nods,_ _“_ _Well I didn_ _’_ _t disagree._ _”_

_“_ _Come on, let_ _’_ _s get back to the Ord_ _–”_ _Bellatrix is cut off by a beam of solid white light hitting her and knocking her down._

_“_ _BELLA!_ _”_ _Peter and Sirius shout, Peter tries to help her up as Sirius stupefys and obliviates the man who had attacked them. Suddenly Peter pushes him out of the way of another curse, this one from Bellatrix._

_“_ _What the fuck?!_ _”_ _Sirius shrieks._

_“_ _Moral reversal spell, moral reversal spell!_ _”_ _Peter replies, pulling him up and around the corner._

_Sirius ducks around it,_ _“_ _Moribus ostendo sum!_ _”_ _He casts the Moral Reversal Spell at her again, Bellatrix is once more knocked to the ground by a solid beam of white light._

_“_ _You idiot! We have no idea what that will do!_ _”_ _Peter tells Sirius._

_“_ _It_ _’_ _s better than doing nothing!_ _”_

_“_ _Ooooh, blood, pretty,_ _”_ _Bellatrix says, looking at her own blood on her hands from a cut on her face. Death Eaters start flooding in from the corridor._

_“_ _Pads, we_ _’_ _ve got to go!_ _”_

_“_ _We can_ _’_ _t leave Bella!_ _”_

_“_ _I_ _’_ _m kind of thinking she_ _’_ _s going to chase after us here, Padfoot._ _”_

_The two make their way to the ground floor once more, finding Remus locked in a duel with Lucius, though others are surrounding and attacking him as well._

_“_ _What the hell happened to Trixie?!_ _”_ _Remus asks Peter and Sirius as they fight._

_“_ _Someone gave them the moral reversal spell, which, by the way, casting again does not reverse,_ _”_ _Sirius replies, Remus appears too occupied to reply, but Peter_ _’_ _s too focused on surviving to pay any of it much heed. They battle their way towards the floo._ _“_ _Remus, we can_ _’_ _t get to her,_ _”_ _Sirius calls when it becomes clear they won_ _’_ _t be able to incapacitate her and take her with them._

_“_ _Crucio!_ _”_ _Rodolphus Lestrange casts, Remus drops to the ground, screaming._

_“_ _Stupefy!_ _”_ _Lucius casts, Rodolphus is knocked out and Remus stops screaming, but he_ _’_ _s surrounded._

_“_ _GO!_ _”_ _Peter feels Sirius push him into the floo, seeing Bellatrix grinning madly before the memory fades._

“What is it with people and crucio-ing you?” Mary asks Remus who ignores her and all the concerned looks he gets. It suddenly occurs to Benni that he’s just seen the moment that his sister’s Mum went insane, the moment Jamie lost her. He wipes a tear from his eye and makes a mental note to tell her this happened.

“Everyone in favour of pronouncing Bellatrix Lestrange innocent of all charges?” Again, enough raise their hands, but it’s a small margin. “I hereby declare Peter Pettigrew, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Sirius Black cleared of all charges against them,” Rufus declares.

“If she was influenced by a spell when the wedding took place, does that not mean the marriage between Bellatrix Black and Rodolphus Lestrange is voided?” Arthur Weasley asks.

Scrimgeour nods, “Very true, Bellatrix Black, then. May her memory rest in peace.” Remus feels a weight off his shoulders in so many ways, and yet it is all too late. He’s shaking, and afraid, and needs to get out of here.

“There is one more thing to address,” Scrimgeour tells the group who look at him in confusion, “Do remember that at the time, he was a fugitive, and we felt it best if this were all done quietly,” He prefaces, “Mr Black was found alive in the room he died in.” Hermione and Harry both gasp, looking to each other. Hermione smiling widely, even Harry can’t help but feel the same. “Apparently the arch spit him out again. He was promptly returned to Azkaban, but as he has now been declared innocent…” The Minister waves a hand at two people who leave the room and return a moment later with a rather distressed and confused Sirius Black. Remus’ heart stops as Sirius meets his eyes.

“Remus?” Sirius asks, tears in his eyes as his face lights up, Remus lets out what could be a laugh, or possibly a sob, but ends up both. He doesn’t think, he just moves. He heads directly over to Sirius, puts a hand on the back of his neck and another on his waist before pulling him in and kissing him. Sirius doesn’t hesitate to reciprocate leaving the rest of the room unsure where to look for longer than is socially acceptable. Remus doesn’t count, doesn’t need to, couldn’t, even if he’d tried.

Eventually Remus pulls away, he cups Sirius’ face with one hand, the other remaining on the back of his neck.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Sirius finally says, Remus just presses their foreheads together for another moment before he steps away, knowing there were others who wanted to say hello. Benni comes up, taking Remus’ hand. Remus wraps an arm around his son’s shoulders.

“Dad?” Hermione asks.

Sirius looks up at her, tears filling his eyes, “Hermione?” Sirius ignores everything as he moves to his daughter who jumps over the banister and flings herself at him, Harry not far behind, “You know?” He asks Harry who nods.

“Jamie told me.” 

Sirius holds them both close, “I am so sorry, both of you. Merlin, I love you so much, are you both all right?” They nod, he frowns at Hermione, “Under the circumstances this will no doubt sound odd, and my recent place of residence may have something to do with this but, have we met somewhere before?”

Hermione laughs, nodding, “I was using a glamour charm at the time and the last name Granger.” 

His eyes widen, “You were so close.” She hugs him again. “Did Jamie tell you too?”

“No, Uncle Sev did.” She turns back slightly to see Severus’ lips quirk in a slight happy smile at the name.

Minister Scrimgeour clears his throat, “I will now dismiss this session, unless there is anyone else you wish to claim innocent? Voldemort himself, perhaps?” Remus goes to argue that point when Lucius and Severus link an arm through each of his.

“Nope, we’re good, children, various not-dead people, come along!” Lucius directs, they all go.

“Father, where exactly are we come alonging to?” Draco asks as they walk down the corridor. That pulls Lucius up short. He frowns.

“I have to go back to my Hospital room, you can all go there?” Mary suggests, they all agree and so head to the floos. Then Sirius seems to take in present company.

“Remus, what the ever living fuck?!” Sirius demands, Remus looks confused, “Mary, Wormtail, Lucius freaking Malfoy, _what_?!”

“Voldemort captured Mary and used her to make Peter do as he said. Peter did not kill the twelve muggles, Antonin made it look like he did, and Voldemort was threatening Mary to get Peter to tell him where James and Lily were. Lucius is the reason we got this trial. Oh, also, Neville’s here.” Sirius looks around, Harry points at the boy who waves.

“Hi, Uncle Sirius,” Neville greets, remembering the name written on the back of some photos.

“Nev,” Sirius says, pulling him into a hug. He then moves and hugs Severus, to almost everyone’s surprise. Severus just hugs him back. He hugs Benoit who buries his face in his Uncle’s shoulder for a long moment. Then Sirius hugs Mary.

“You were in Azkaban?” She asks sadly.

“Twelve and a half years all up,” He replies.

“I got you beat on the time being locked up, but I daresay you had it worse.” 

Sirius chuckles, “For once, I’m good not making everything a competition.”

“Oh um, Mary, this is Harrison James Riddle-Potter-Black, and Hermione Antlia Malfoy-Potter-Black,” Remus introduces, Mary seems dazed.

Sirius clears his throat, “They’re my kids, mine and Del’s, but they have different fathers, it’s a long story.”

“Tell me when I’m not being fed through a tube. Until then, nice to meet you both, never thought I’d see the day Sirius Black had a kid, let alone two.”

“Nice to meet you too,” They both say at once, chuckling at each other.

Remus then puts a hand on Benni’s shoulder, “This is Benoit Lunaire Lupin, my son.” 

Mary smiles at the boy, “It’s nice to meet you, Benoit.” Benni smiles at her and nods. “I guess I have a lot to catch up on,” Mary states.

Sirius smirks, “As do I.”

“Me too, because what the hell?!” Severus asks, pointing to Peter.

“Remus and Wormtail have been talking for at least a few months prior to my death,” Sirius tells him, Remus looks at him in shock, “Found an envelope with his handwriting on it next to an empty bottle of whatever it is you’d been drinking.” Benoit rolls his eyes at his Father which makes the other kids chuckle.

“I thought we got you out of that habit?” Mary asks, he sighs.

“He fell back into it,” Lucius tells her, “More than ever before since Sirius…”

“You cared that much?” Sirius asks him, Remus looks panicked for a moment despite the fact that Sirius had quite happily snogged him back earlier.

“Of course I did, you’re one of my best friends, Sirius.” 

Severus glares at Remus. Near true hatred in his eyes, “Nope, we’re not doing this again. For fuck’s sake. Sirius loves Remus, Remus loves Sirius, fucking kiss already!” Severus tells them both sternly, Hermione bursts out laughing. Remus knows Sirius loves him, or thought he had. But it had been easy to do so when the man was dead. Now here in all his glory, how can Remus believe this amazing man, that he’s so very in love with, could have possibly been pining after a poor Werewolf for so damn long?

“You really love me?” Remus asks Sirius quietly, in Finnish for a bit of privacy.

Sirius huffs and replies in Finnish, “Yes, you great bumbling twat! I love you, I have since I first laid eyes on you! You are everything I have ever wanted in life. The first thing I think of when I wake up, the last I think of before I go to bed no matter how bloody cliché that sounds. All through Azkaban it was the thought of you that kept me going, knowing you were out there. It was my love for you and the bitter pain it brings because you don’t love me back that kept my mind in tact. It has always been you for me, Remus,” Sirius tells him before switching back to English, “I've always been waiting for you.”

Remus’ eyes light up at the familiar line. He rests his forehead on Sirius’, “All these years, all the clues, you aren’t exactly a subtle person, but I never saw…I watched you die and realised that you are a part of everything I am. I lost so much of myself that day and found out that it wasn’t just your own feelings I had been blinded to. I love you Sirius Black, and I have for a long time,” Remus tells him, Sirius smiles, tears in his eyes. “Forgive me for being an oblivious idiot?” 

Sirius chuckles, nodding, “I’d forgive you anything you bloody dolt,” He tells him. Remus smiles happily before kissing him again. It’s better than Sirius imagined, and for once in his life it feels like everything has fallen into place.

“See, Dad, _that_ _’_ _s_ how you tell someone you love them,” Hermione tells him when they break apart again. Sirius laughs, pulling away from Remus and throwing an arm around his daughter’s shoulders.

“Brat.” She grins at him, he pulls away and looks her up and down, suddenly she worries. He grew up rich and she’s not exactly that kind of person, and so many people judge her for how she dresses, like it’s not ‘proper decorum’ or something, but he just grins, “Damn you look awesome. See Moony, this here is someone with good fashion sense.” Hermione throws her arms around her Dad. “Oh, I’m being hugged for that, okay,” He says, hugging her back.

They floo to the hospital in an awkward silence after that, Sirius sketchily looking around at every little movement, Mary falls asleep in her chair, Peter looks a loud noise away from turning into a rat, and no one entirely sure how they should be reacting to recent revelations, old enemies, and no-longer lost friends.

They are all quite glad Mary has a room to herself. The kids all sit in a corner together, deciding to give the adults a chance to sort themselves out and catch up before they intervene again.

“I’m going to head back to school, let everyone know how it went, would you five like to return with me or stay here?” Lucius asks the kids, Draco looks around at them.

“I’ll come back with you, you guys spend some time with your other family,” Draco tells them, saying good bye and leaving with his Father.

After they leave, a woman with a child walks in.

“You know you’re late, right?” She tells Remus who huffs, Mary blinks awake.

“By five minutes and twenty seconds. Now give me the damned child.” The woman walks in, handing the kid to him. “Hi there cutie-pie.”

“Uncie Moon,” The child says happily, giggling. Remus’ face lights up, lifting her and bumping their noses together, making the child laugh again.

“It went well?” The woman asks.

Peter stands, embracing the woman, “It went perfectly. Perfecter than perfectly.”

Remus rolls his eyes, “It’s more perfect, you said that imperfectly.”

“Suck an egg, Moony.”

“Language!”

“Sorry dear.”

“What is happening?” Sirius suddenly asks.

Peter takes a deep breath, “This is my fiancée, Bridget, and my daughter, Rema.” 

Sirius’ eyes widen, “This is why you didn’t turn him in?” Sirius asks Remus who nods, turning the child around so that Sirius could see her face.

“Too many children had already lost their parents. I couldn’t take away another’s Father.” 

Sirius sighs, looking away and nodding. Remus reaches out and takes his hand, squeezing it gently, Sirius smiles at him, “I suppose I would have done the same. Well, actually I probably would have killed him on sight but, you know, assuming I didn’t.”

“You say that like Moony didn’t try to eat me,” Peter grumbles, Remus rolls his eyes. “And growl at me every time we spoke for a good few weeks.”

“And then you went and brought Voldemort back from the freaking dead.”

“You what?!” Mary screeches, Peter winces.

Remus’ eyes widen, “Whoops.”

“I can explain,” Peter tells her, “I mean, not well, but…”

“First you should know that um, Lily, James, Marlene, your parents, Marlene’s family, the Potters minus Del, and Regulus are all dead,” Remus tells Mary who gasps, Peter takes her hand comfortingly. “Severus turned on Voldemort in an attempt to save Lily and James, that’s how he re-joined us. Obviously you know Peter turned on us to save you. Sirius went to Azkaban for Peter’s crimes, Peter went into hiding. Bellatrix was sent insane,” Remus continues, voice shaking marginally, he clears his throat and keeps going, “She tortured Alice and Frank. They’ve been in here ever since. Then she was sent to Azkaban. Somehow, after she escaped, her mind was repaired enough for her to turn on Voldemort who then killed her. Del’s been in prison for sixteen years, long story. Tom is currently being possessed by Voldemort. Have I forgotten anyone?”

“Petunia got married to what I am certain is just a ham in an ugly sweater, has a son named Dudley, whole family is horrible,” Severus tells her, Remus swats his head, “Oh like you disagree.”

“Dudley is young, he could grow up into a nice person, not everyone is eternally bitter like you.”

“Not everyone is –”

“Will you both shut it?!” Sirius requests, “I literally just got away from constant screaming, let the headache die before you argue like an old married…anyway.” Remus frowns, wrapping his arm around Sirius who smiles happily and leans into it, mindful of the baby on Remus’ lap.

“Phia?” Mary asks.

Remus laughs, “She’s done brilliantly, successful author, current Queen of Austria, she’s happy.”

“Queen of what now?” Sirius and Peter ask at once, both awkwardly don’t acknowledge it.

“Long story. Um, and, obviously, Peter had a kid.” 

Mary looks to the child and smirks slightly, “I’m surprised Remus isn’t screaming in fright.”

“Oh for the love of god, I am not afraid of babies! I have two kids of my own.” They hear Hermione and Harry quietly filling Neville in on the story they had been told.

“Neville here is Frank and Alice’s boy,” Sirius adds.

Mary nods, “You look a lot like them both, actually,” She says to Neville who smiles happily, “And you, you look like your Uncle,” Mary tells Harry who nods, “Except your eyes, they look weirdly like Lily’s, which should not be possible, Remus?”

“Sev and I think Albus performed a partial blood adoption with a strand of Lily’s DNA,” Remus replies.

“Does this have something to do with why your eyes are a different colour?” Sirius asks, Remus nods.

“Wow, I did not even notice,” Harry says, looking at him, the others agree.

“Well, not everyone stares endlessly into his eyes whenever physically possible like a love sick puppy,” Severus comments, Sirius glares at him, Remus rolls his eyes.

“Oh, also, Remus and Severus were married,” Peter adds, Mary’s eyes widen as she looks at them.

“Thanks for that, Pete.”

“Any time, Mate.”

“We got divorced a few years ago.”

“Oh! Andromeda and Ted have a kid!” Sirius remembers, “Which, obviously you know, but we met her again, she and Remus were straight up flirting.”

“Yes, I met her this mor-…Remus! She’s like half your age! Actually, how old are we? What year is it?” Mary asks, not sounding distressed but very curious, and sleepy.

“It’s 1996, we are both thirty-seven, Dora is twenty-one. That is more than half my age, so fuck you.”

“Yeah but she’s only, what, three years older than your own daughter?” Sirius asks, Remus glares at him.

“And you knew her when she was a baby! Your name was her first word! Perverted freak!” Mary exclaims.

“I will legitimately suffocate you, arsehole.”

“Okay, students in the room, let’s keep this PG,” Severus requests.

“You have a daughter?” Mary asks Remus who nods.

“Her name’s Jamie, she’s eighteen. Oh, Severus is Potions’ Master and Head of Slytherin at Hogwarts,” Remus adds, “Lucius is DADA teacher.”

“What are you doing?” Mary asks Remus who frowns.

“Running.”

“Death Eaters are hunting him,” Severus tells her.

Mary looks concerned, “I guess you joined the war then?”

“Yeah, after you ‘died’ I decided I couldn’t let anyone else die without trying to help them.”

“That’s what Voldemort was talking about yesterday?” She asks, Remus flinches, though all know it’s not at the name.

“He was bloody good at it too,” Sirius says, trying to change the subject a tad, his voice taking on a sad note.

“Speaking of yesterday, did you ever get those cuts healed?” Mary asks, everyone looks to him in concern.

He sighs, “No, I did not.”

“Rem…” Severus tells him.

Remus sighs again, “Your slashing curse,” He explains.

Severus’ eyes widen, “Where?”

“Severus I’m fi –”

“ _Where_.” Remus glares at him for a moment before unbuttoning his shirt, carefully manoeuvring Rema, Severus moves forward and heals the cuts, both ignoring the gasps from everyone else when they see the cuts and the dripping lines of blood from where he accidentally reopened them during the trial.

“Excuse me,” Remus says as soon as Severus finishes, leaving the room.

“Yeah he’s flooing to the closest bar,” Severus says with a sigh.

“How bad is it?” Bridget asks, “I mean I watched him scull half a bottle of vodka in three seconds but, was that just a bad day?”

“You know when he’s had a bad full moon but is determined to act like everything is fine?” Severus asks, Bridget nods, “Imagine that determination put towards drinking himself into a grave.” Everyone in the room winces at that description, apt though it may be.

“Everyone here knows about Moony then?” Mary asks.

Sirius nods, “Whole damned world knows Remus is a Werewolf.”

“Damn,” Mary comments, Sirius nods, “How’d everyone find out?”

“I told them,” Severus admits, Mary’s glare could cut through glass. This earns her points in the eyes of the students. “One mistake, Mar, we made one mistake and he nearly killed five people, three of them being students. I couldn’t keep taking that risk. My damned marriage ended because of that decision, well, and some other shit, but that was the breaking point, so believe me when I say I did not make the decision lightly.” 

Mary nods, “Still not happy, but circumstances happen. Besides, always waiting, so you guys are okay, right?” Severus nods. “Brill.”

“Oh no, no, you have got to stop saying that,” Hermione tells her, she looks confused, “What? It’s so two decades ago, can you imagine the shit Ginny’ll give her if she says that in front of her?”

“I cannot believe that sentence just came out of your mouth,” Harry tells her, she shoves him, “Oh come on, she’s just been freed, give her a break.”

“Ignore the teenagers,” Severus suggests.

“Or threaten to poison their toads, both work,” Harry says, Severus glares at him, Neville and Hermione both look away.

“Oh you didn’t…” Mary says.

Severus sighs, “Remus has bitched at me enough for a lifetime about it.”

“So um…you guys realise Uncle Remus took the baby with him, right?” Neville asks, Bridget and Peter exchange looks.

“O level parenting right here,” Bridget comments, dropping her head into her hands.

“We knew Remus was holding her, at that point my brain decided to take a break because she’s safe,” Peter says.

Severus chuckles, “You look like James, Lily, and Del after Harry was born.”

“Ouch, that hurts, Sev,” Peter comments, Severus and the kids seem amused.

“So, if Mary’s free, does that mean you aren’t working for Voldemort anymore?” Harry asks Peter who nods, “Are you fighting for us?”

“No. Partially because I think half the Order would kill me on sight, and also because I want to see my daughter grow up.” 

Harry nods, “Good answer. Go have family life, stupid war can go suck a freaking egg.”

“Are you all right, Harry?” Sirius asks him in concern.

He shakes his head, “No, no I am not.”

“What’s wrong?”

“The Headmaster and I had an interesting conversation a few days ago. If I were a Werewolf, I think I would have eaten him, full moon or no.”

“Wow I’m getting flashbacks,” Severus says. Mary, Peter, and Sirius chuckle.

“Wanna talk about it?”

Harry shakes his head, “Another time. I’m too busy sulking.”

“He’s definitely your kid, Sirius,” Mary tells him. Sirius smiles and nods, but he can’t help thinking this kind of behaviour in common has more to do with their similar childhoods of abuse and neglect than any familial connection. Sirius hears the door open and panics, instinctually turning into a dog and hiding in the corner. 

Severus pulls out his phone. “Calling Remus,” He tells the others who seem to agree with the course of action.

“Is he all right?” Healer Richards asks.

Peter shakes his head, “Not in any sense of the word.” 

The woman does some checks over Mary, nodding to herself. “If things progress as they are, you should be able to head home tomorrow, provided someone can look after you, that is.”

“You’re welcome to stay with us but, the baby might interrupt sleep,” Bridget tells her, she smiles in thanks.

“You can stay at my house. Sirius, Remus and a few old friends stay there,” Severus tells her.

She nods, “That would be good, thank you.” 

Knowing plans have been arranged, the Healer nods at them and leaves the room.

“Remus is on his way back.”

“Least he hasn’t been gone long enough to be drunk?” Peter offers after the healer leaves.

“Sirius left for half an hour once and came back to find an empty bottle,” Harry tells them before continuing to try and calm Sirius. Said alcoholic Werewolf then walks into the room and hands Rema to her father.

“Sirius?” He asks, looking at Severus who points at the corner, Remus goes and sits beside the dog, “Pads?” The dog sniffs, recognises him, and then moves to have the front half of his body on Remus’ lap. Remus strokes through his fur soothingly, “What happened?”

“Loud noise,” Harry replies, Remus nods, Padfoot whimpers. Remus moves the dog so that he can actually hug him close, he settles pretty quickly after that, breathing in Remus’ scent at his neck. Remus lets him, surprised to find the action doesn’t worry Moony at all.

“How did you find Mary?” Severus asks Remus quietly, Remus looks over to find Mary has fallen asleep again.

“Long story.”

“She’ll be coming back to Grimmauld Place when she’s released which, hopefully, will be tomorrow,” Severus tells him.

Remus nods, then something occurs to him, “So, if Sirius is back, he gets custody of Hermione, they both live at Grimmauld Place, does that mean I don’t have to go back?”

“You were going to go back for me?” Hermione asks.

Remus nods, “Don’t exactly have another place that would be safe enough while I’m still being hunted.” 

Hermione smiles, walking over and hugging him, mindful of her dog-father, “Thank you.”

Remus smiles lightly, “Any time.”

“I think Sirius would really appreciate it if you were there,” Harry points out. Remus sighs, knowing he doesn’t want to leave his Padfoot again. 

Remus looks down at the dog sitting in his lap with his paws on either side of Remus’ head, his own head tucked into Remus’ neck, and sighs again, “Fine, but I’m not apologising to Albus.”

“No apology is necessary,” A voice says from the door as Albus Dumbledore walks in, “You have fair reason to be upset.” At his voice, both Mary and Sirius wake up, Sirius transforming back into a human and shifting so as to be sitting in Remus’ lap normally instead of in a position only socially appropriate for a dog. Remus wraps his arms around the man’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“Headmaster.”

“I am most pleased and, well, surprised, to find you are both alive,” Albus tells Sirius and Mary, “Welcome back.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Sirius tells him.

“Miss Macdonald, I owe you an apology. If I had known you were alive…”

“I know Sir, it’s all right. I’m free now.”

“Yes, I hear we owe your presence here today to both Remus and Mr Pettigrew.” Peter gulps slightly, handing Rema over to Bridget who looks tense.

“He was found innocent,” Neville can’t help but point out.

Albus nods, “I am well aware. It is good to see you again, Mr Pettigrew,” He says, holding a hand out for Peter to take. He shakes it, releasing a breath. The old man then turns to Sirius, “Your actions were noble, we are all grateful,” Albus tells him, Sirius just leans into Remus’ side. “Under the circumstances, Minerva and I have agreed that you four may have a few days to stay with your family. Severus, you will need to return to school.” Severus nods, the four children looking surprised but happy. The two say good bye to everyone, Severus hugging Benoit tightly, before leaving.

“Neville, I understand if you’d rather not but, it’s been a while since I’ve visited Alice and Frank, so I thought, while we’re here…would you care to join me,” Remus asks. Neville looks up, uncertain for a moment before nodding. “Anyone else?” Peter shrinks away, Remus makes a mental note of that, knowing it will need to be addressed.

“I’ll come,” Sirius says, “I didn’t have a chance last time.” No one misses the fact that he doesn’t want to be without Remus. Benni gets up and grabs hold of his Père’s hand. The four leave the room, Hermione melts into her Brother’s side.

“Um, Harry, Hermione, I just –” Peter begins.

Harry shakes his head, “Were he to have taken Hermione or Ron or Draco, I’d have done the same thing. You owe me no apology.”

“Nor me. Though, I think Mum might appreciate you visiting her so that she knows you are okay,” Hermione says, Peter nods thoughtfully. “We could too,” She tells Harry who looks down.

“I’m sure Sirius or Uncle Moony would be more than willing to take you along,” Harry tells her. She frowns but doesn’t push, deciding to bring it up again later. There’s silence for a moment before Harry speaks up, “So, if you’re our Uncle, does that mean Rema is our cousin like Neville is?”

Peter smiles, “If you still consider me your Uncle, then yes.” Harry and Hermione immediately begin to coo over their cousin, Peter laughs, smiling brightly. Bridget takes a photo.

A while later Remus, Sirius, and Neville have returned, when Tonks shows up again.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?” She asks.

Sirius grins, walking over and hugging her, “Hey baby cousin, how are you?”

“Very confused, how are you?”

“Very alive.”

“As I can see.”

“Moony kissed me.”

“YES!” Tonks yells excitedly.

Remus buries his face in his hands, “I hate you both.”

“I happen to have it on very good authority that you love me very much, actually,” Sirius replies, looking smug and also the happiest he’s ever been in a while despite being twitchy and far too skinny after his recent stay in Azkaban. Remus just smiles indulgently at him. “I’ve been in Azkaban again.” 

Tonks hugs her cousin again, “Who are the random people?”

“Well, that’s Bridget, that’s my God-Daughter Rema, Bridget’s daughter, and that’s Peter, Rema’s Father,” Remus explains.

Tonks frowns, looking at Peter. “You look familiar…oh son of a bitch, Remus John Malfoy what did you do?!”

“He and Sirius have been found innocent on all charges. Now, Bridget here is my old boss, you know, we were talking about her last night?” Tonks looks at Remus with a ‘bitch wanna start with me?’ face, Remus grins toothily.

“You little shit. I assume Mr Pettigrew was present as well?”

“Indeed he was.”

Tonks crosses her arms and narrows her eyes at Remus, “Well, thank Merlin I just happened to be waiting until now to question Bridget and Mary, else Pettigrew may have found himself in a spot of trouble.”

“Yes, how very lucky,” Remus says with a calm smile.

Tonks rolls her eyes, “I need statements from you three about Mary’s capture and escape, everything you know. Everyone else, if you would please wait outside?” 

“We’ll take Rema, if you like?” Harry offers. Bridget chuckles at his obvious adoration for the baby, handing the child over.

“Hawwyyy,” Rema calls excitedly, as though it had been over thirteen seconds since she’d last seen him.

“Hi!”

“Quit hogging the baby, Harry!” Hermione complains.

“Hey, I haven’t held her at all!” Neville points out.

“I will take her off all three of you if you keep behaving like children,” Remus warns, they quieten down. Sirius takes Remus’ free hand, the other being held by Benni, as they walk out with the kids.

“Did you mean what you said to Peter?” They hear Hermione ask Harry who heaves a sigh.

“I did, and all of that I really could have let go but…”

“Cedric,” Hermione guesses, Harry nods. She wraps an arm around her brother, “Did you end up having to show them that memory?”

“No, the one of Godric’s Hollow was enough.” Sirius looks to Remus in concern.

Remus sighs, “Harry showed his memory of the night James and Lily died to prove your innocence,” Remus explains quietly as they take a seat in the waiting area.

“Why would you let him do that?!”

“It wasn’t my idea! Besides, I haven’t really been able to be around much, I’m still being hunted. Well, possibly, depends how deep…anyway, we can talk about that later.”

“You should have been safe at Grimmauld Place though,” Sirius tells him. Remus winces, biting his lip. Sirius smirks at it, Remus looks at him and blushes. Then Sirius leans in and kisses him, “You know, when we aren’t in such a public place I am finally going to do what I’ve been wanting to since the first time I saw you do that.” 

Remus smiles, “And what’s that?” he asks, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

“Not something we want to hear about,” Harry interjects. Remus looks at them and flushes when he sees how close they are sitting.

Sirius just smirks, “Grimmauld Place,” Sirius says again.

Remus sighs, “I quit the Order.”

Sirius’ eyes widen, “You what?” Remus nods. “But-wha-why?”

“It’s a long story.”

“A lot of things seem to be with you at the moment. Are they really or do you just not want to explain?”

“Either? Both?”

“Was it because of me?”

“No, it was a few months after…” Remus closes his eyes, looking away and taking a shaky breath. He wipes his hands on his pants as he shakes his head and chuckles humourlessly, “Damn I could really use a drink.” Benoit rolls his eyes and starts looking through the magazines they have in the waiting area.

Sirius looks sad, “You know, I remember the first time I saw you tipsy, when you showed up late to Transfiguration in fourth year. If I had known how that would progress I’d have done more to stop it then and there.” 

Remus rolls his eyes, “And not use it as a bargaining chip you mean?”

Sirius chuckles, “God we had no idea how quickly things could go bad.”

“Or that there were actual consequences for our actions.”

Sirius leans his forehead on Remus’ shoulder, “Are things ever going to be okay again, Moony?”

Remus sighs, putting an arm around him, “I don’t know that they ever have been, Padfoot.”

“Well aren’t you lot the life of the party,” Harry comments dryly.

Sirius frowns at him, “You are in one hell of a mood.”

“Oh, that reminds me!” Hermione says before slapping Harry over the back of the head.

“Um, ow!”

“You and I need to _talk_ about what Professor Malfoy told me.” 

Harry seems confused, then resigned, “Yeah, I know.”

“Now! Come on.” She then drags him down a corridor, Neville moves to sit closer to Sirius and Remus, Rema playing with some toys kept for children in the waiting room with Benoit who had gotten bored with the magazines in under three seconds.

“So, Malfoy?” Sirius asks.

Remus rubs a hand over his face, “A long story, and it actually is. It involves a very convoluted plan, Black Manor, an ambush, an assassination plot, regicide, politics, and my sister showing up again after almost a decade of pretending I don’t exist.”

“Does this have something to do with her being the Queen of whatever?” Remus nods. “Right, that does sound like a long story.”

“Can I ask something?” Neville requests hesitantly, Remus and Sirius turn to him, both nodding.

“Of course,” Remus tells him.

“My parents, how did they meet? My Gran doesn’t know anything except in school,” He asks.

“Honestly, I’m not sure either. Frank was the year above us, first I remember hearing about him is when Lily told us Alice had a crush on him. She’d gone to sit in his carriage with him on the way to school after the train,” Remus tells him.

Sirius frowns as he thinks, “I think I remember seeing them in the library together before that, with a few of Frank’s friends as well.”

“What were you doing in the library?” Remus asks.

“The silencing charm for the cloak.” Remus smiles dopily, Sirius rolls his eyes, “Yes, yes, I did research for you, we’ve been over this.”

“But not while I’ve known why! I didn’t even know how long it had been until Wormtail told me,” Remus tells him, Sirius raises an eyebrow at that, Remus hesitates, “The point is, sadly, we don’t know how they first met either, but I think there is a good chance Mary will.” Neville nods, looking satisfied. Harry and Hermione walk back in at that point, Hermione sitting down and pointedly ignoring everything while Harry seems perfectly at ease and calm. Sirius’ sarcasm takes root.

“The cheer in this room is bloody overwhelming.”

**NOTE:**

So I know Harry’s mood is swinging wildly in this chapter, it’ll be explained in two chapters time, so just stay with me.

Anyway

SURPRISE! Sirius is alive! And they are finally _finally_ together!!! I’ve waited months to write this part!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know Harry’s mood is swinging wildly in this chapter, it’ll be explained in two chapters time, so just stay with me.
> 
> Anyway
> 
> SURPRISE! Sirius is alive! And they are finally finally together!!! I’ve waited months to write this part!!! (And years to upload it omg)


	24. I'm Addicted To You

Chapter 23 – I’m Addicted To You

Note: Chapter Title from Britney Spears’ song ‘Toxic’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Harry and Hermione walk back in at that point, Hermione sitting down and pointedly ignoring everything while Harry seems perfectly at ease and calm. Sirius_ _’_ _sarcasm takes root._

_“_ _The cheer in this room is bloody overwhelming._ _”_

Now,

All too soon, visiting hours are over. As everyone prepares to leave, Remus takes a minute to make sure Mary’s okay.

“You aren’t responsible for me just because you helped me escape, you know,” She assures him.

Remus sighs, taking her hand, “I know, that’s not what I’m doing. I just…I’m sorry about freaking out on you in that cell, that probably wasn’t very easy to deal with.” 

Mary’s face falls, “I’ve been gone a long time, last I knew you were steadfastly refusing to take part in the first war. I have no idea what happened, but if it did that to you it would have killed me.” Remus looks away, she squeezes his hand as best she can, “Don’t ever apologise for surviving something terrible and having the scars to prove it.” 

Remus sniffles slightly, wiping away a few stray tears. “I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise.”

Mary nods, “Remus?” She asks as he walks away, he turns back, “Thank you.” He smiles slightly, nods, and then walks away, leaving her once again to wonder what on Earth could have shattered her friend.

Neville and Benoit both decide to go back to Hogwarts that night, give Harry and Hermione a chance to catch up with Sirius, despite numerous reassurances that Neville is family too and doesn’t have to go. He promises he’ll return tomorrow. Benoit just wants to go back to school.

Back at Grimmauld Place, no one is all too surprised when, upon arrival, Remus disappears for ten minutes and comes back with a drink in hand.

“We have really got to talk about this, Mate,” Sirius tells him, Remus looks mildly panicked at that, downing the glass quickly. That more than anything decides it for Sirius. Something needs to be done. But not tonight. Tonight everything is so very quiet for the first time in a long time, and all Sirius wants to do is rest in the arms of the man he loves. But that will have to wait, because he has his children back and he needs to be there for them.

Sufficed to say, Moody is rather surprised to see them.

“You’re dead, you’re in school, I don’t know who you are, and you ran away,” He says, pointing at Sirius, then Harry, then Hermione, and then Remus.

Sirius smirks, “Not dead,” He says.

“Not in school,” Harry points out, raising a hand slightly to indicate to himself.

“Hermione Black, previously Hermione Granger and Hermione Willows, now minus the glamour charm,” Hermione tells him.

Moody’s eye widens minutely, “Seen through the charm, not many get past this,” He says, pointing at his magical eye, “Didn’t realise who you are though. You?” He asks, looking to Remus.

“Wasn’t going to leave Sirius again.” 

Moody nods, looking oddly pleased when Sirius takes Remus’ hand, “Think I’ll go make myself scarce. I’m sure Mr and Mrs Tonks would be glad to hear from you, seeing as you ran off on them,” He tells Remus who looks mildly sheepish.

‘Peter?’ Harry mouths to Remus when Moody walks away, Remus shakes his head.

“Why didn’t we tell him?” Sirius asks Remus after Moody’s door has closed upstairs.

“He’ll find out on his own anyway, no doubt news of the trial will leak out soon enough. The less we tell anyone the smaller the chances are someone with a grudge finds them.”

“You’re really that protective of them?” Harry asks.

Hermione frowns, taking a seat at the table, “‘Then he went and brought Voldemort back from the dead.’ You’ve been talking to him since before then, months before then,” Hermione realises.

Remus nods, “I met Bridget a few months before Rema was born, it was around two months later that Pete showed up.” 

Sirius seems to ignore the entire conversation, “Food, anyone? I feel like I haven’t eaten in…I have no concept of time, how long has it been since…?”

“Seven months,” Harry replies, voice sounding rather hollow, Sirius walks over and wraps an arm around his son. Harry doesn’t really know how to respond to this but hugs back, albeit stiffly.

“Was it as bad as last time?” Hermione asks him.

Sirius sighs, “Less people this time, less time but…none of it really makes a difference. Not in there.”

“Uncle Moony bitched out the Wizengamot about your lack of trial the first time,” Harry tells him, Sirius looks to Remus in amusement.

“How about I get started on that dinner,” Remus suggestions, walking towards the kitchen.

“Don’t set the house on fire, we’ve got nowhere else to go.” Remus glares at Sirius who grins. The entire interaction feels forced to them, given how often they’ve done it before, but the kids are convinced and that’s what matters.

“He’s a Malfoy now, he could just buy a planet or something and we could all hide there,” Harry points out.

Remus huffs as he walks into the kitchen, “I’m not taking their money.”

“Your money, by law.”

“I only needed their name to get out of trouble in case I got caught doing something. It was a favour to my sister and I’m not taking advantage of it.”

“But a _planet_ , Uncle Moony!”

“Harry, even if I were to use the money, I’m not buying a planet.”

Harry seems rather putout about this, “What about a golden palace?”

“Why gold?” Hermione asks.

Harry shrugs, “I like gold.”

“You have a vault full of it.”

“Galleons aren’t actually made out of gold Mio, trust me, I looked into it.” Hermione rolls her eyes.

“Wait, they aren’t?” Sirius asks.

Harry shakes his head, “Not entirely, there’s some debate whether the second metal is silver or nickel though, the Goblins won’t say. It’s only a small amount.”

“But you’ll only have it if it’s solid and pure gold, right?” Hermione asks in amusement.

“I nearly bought a gold cauldron for school in first year, but Hagrid stopped me.”

“Good thing too, can you imagine how Uncle Sev would have responded to that?” Hermione asks, Harry laughs which makes Hermione roll her eyes, but she chuckles too.

“On the other hand, it’s nickel,” Sirius says, they both look confused, “Got a galleon on you? Sure fire way to tell.” Harry pulls one out of his pocket. “Oi, Moony, catch!”

“What?” Remus asks, turning around to see something flying at him, he catches it out of the air. “Why?” He asks, Sirius gestures for it back, Remus chucks it over, Sirius hands it back to Harry.

“Believe me, if it were Silver, we’d be hearing about it. Which reminds me, what the bloody hell happened to your face and hands?”

Remus grimaces, “Hit a wall.”

“A silver wall?” Sirius asks with narrowed eyes.

“A wall laced with silver, I think.”

“Why was there a wall laced with silver?” 

Remus freezes in putting bacon on the fry pan, clearing his throat before he keeps going. “Best way to keep in a Werewolf, lace the walls and door with silver.” 

Hermione and Harry exchange looks.

“Well, we’re pretty tired,” Hermione begins.

“We’ll just go to bed I think,” Harry finishes before they both hug Sirius and book it out of there. Sirius walks over to Remus, turning the stove off and spinning him to look at him.

“Don’t…” Remus says, closing his eyes, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You’ve been saying that for seventeen years, Remus. It’s not going away.” Remus scrunches his eyes closed more, Sirius takes his face in his hands, Remus grabbing one of them but not pulling it away. “You need to let it out, Moons.” 

Remus shakes his head even as tears spill from his eyes. “I can’t Sirius, I can’t. Please, please stop,” He begs, trying to pull away. Sirius pulls his love into a hug and holds him as he calms down again, Remus sobbing quietly as he does. Sirius sighs, stroking a hand through Remus’ hair and holding tightly.

“Why don’t we have Kreacher make dinner?”

“He’s not here anymore. Severus sent him to work at Hogwarts after he got you killed.” 

Sirius raises an eyebrow but asks no more questions. “Then let me help you.” The two make a simple dinner, making enough for Harry, Hermione, and Moody.

After the two eat they let the others know about the food and then retire to Sirius’ bedroom.

“I’m sorry about before,” Sirius tells Remus who slumps over as he sits on the bed, “I only want to help you.” 

Remus nods, “I know I just…” He seems to try to say more before he just shakes his head. He walks out of the room, Sirius sighs, completely unsurprised when he walks back in with a bottle of firewhiskey in shaking hands.

“Past few days have been a lot, I know,” Sirius tells him, Remus scoffs, “Okay, I don’t. But I can imagine. Do you think it’s easy for me? Being back in this house?” Remus looks away. “I know what it’s like to have your worst memories thrown back in your face, I spent twelve and a half years with dementors.” Remus just looks down at the bottle, fiddling with it before drinking a bunch. “There is no escape there, it’s just on repeat, with no end, no break, forever. So I know how hard it is, Moony. I also know that ignoring it and drinking isn’t going to make it any better.” 

Remus sighs, “I mentioned Bellatrix died?” Remus asks, Sirius nods, frowning as he leans against the door, “I watched her die through Draco’s memory.” Sirius face falls. “I barely cared. I was so afraid seeing Voldemort again, seeing _her_ again, that at the time, what I was watching barely registered.” Sirius moves forward, sitting beside Remus on the bed. “She loved me so much, right until the end, and I can’t even mourn her.” Sirius wraps an arm around Remus’ shoulders, Remus leans his head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. You just got out of Azkaban and I’m here complaining.”

“You aren’t complaining, Remus, you’re processing. Besides, I have been through hell. Lived in it for years. But you know what I’ve never had to do before?” Remus shakes his head. “Move on, deal with it, keep living. I was miserable and half mad but I never had to keep on living. I don’t think I could have, either. To be perfectly honest, were I in your position, hell, not just after the war but most of your life, I’d probably have –”

“Jumped off the Astronomy tower?” Remus asks in a deadpanned tone.

Sirius chuckles slightly, “Yeah.”

“I’d have caught you.” 

Sirius looks at Remus, smiling gently and nodding, “I know.” 

He kisses him gently. 

The two change into pyjamas, Remus lucky in that he still had some here, and lay down in bed together, holding each other close in the dark.

“You asked me, once, what the worst part about the war was for me,” Remus tells him, “I lied.” Sirius waits for Remus to continue in his own time. “It wasn’t Mary’s death. I thought of when Mio was taken from me but…even that wasn’t it. It’s not even those ten months. What haunts me the most wasn’t the war, it was the moment after it when I realised everything I had fought for was gone.” Sirius frowns, snuggling in closer to Remus. “I could go and visit Alice and Frank, and I do, but they aren’t there, not really. Hermione, Harry, Neville, they were all gone to me. You and Del were in gaol, everyone else was dead.” Remus takes a deep breath before continuing, “I know, from the group, I still had Severus but…it didn’t change the loneliest, most _haunting_ and completely unrelenting fact of them all.”

Sirius sits up slightly to look at him, “What was that?”

“I was the last Marauder.” 

It’s too dark to really see each other, yet Sirius is certain the two are looking straight into each other’s eyes, and they cannot look away. It’s a moment before Remus continues, “I have you and Wormtail back but that feeling just won’t go away. It didn’t last time and it won’t now. I can’t talk about any of what happened because I have felt so alone for so long that I don’t know how not to. When I was in that place it was the same. There was no one and nothing and I can’t relive that, not any of it.” 

Sirius nods, “I’m sorry I pushed you.” Remus pulls Sirius back down and hugs him close again. Sirius allows himself to melt into him, feeling tears of joy in his eyes when Remus kisses his head.

 _This is it_ , Sirius thinks, _I made it. He knows I love him, he loves me too._ Sirius can’t think of a damn reason that things can’t be okay from here on out. He has his kids, he has his Moony, what else is there?

Remus, meanwhile, is rather guilt-ridden. It’s been such a hard few days, every single day bringing up everything Remus wishes he could forget, not to mention what he did for Phia, seeing her at all, her bringing up Derek. Now, now he’s got Sirius back and they are together at long last, but he’s holding back. How can he not? Until Harry decides to bring Sirius in on this whole Inimicus thing, that’s how things have to be. When he knows, Sirius will surely leave him for letting Harry do this. The way Harry’s been reacting, Remus doesn’t think it will be any time soon that he lets Sirius in on it all, and everyone will follow his direction regardless of their own concerns. For now though, for now he has Sirius, and he has to make that count for something.

A few hours later Sirius is woken up by moaning, and not the good kind. He looks over to see Remus’ face scrunched up, though by fear or pain he can’t tell, only that Remus is now sobbing in his sleep and writhing on the bed.

“Remus, Remus wake up,” Sirius says gently, Remus whimpers trying to move away from him, it’s giving Sirius the idea that to shake him awake would be a very bad move, “Moony, wake _up_!” He says louder.

“No, Trixie, please, please no,” Remus pleads, Sirius feels the blood drain from his face. The nightmares had happened a lot when he first came back and was living with Sirius and Marlene, but Sirius had hoped by now they’d have faded. He doesn’t recall Remus having nightmares when he was lying low at his place, but perhaps they had come back? Watching both Sirius and Bella die was bound to have consequences for him, Sirius just has to hope he can help the man he loves through this.

 _Nothing for it_ , He thinks to himself before grabbing Remus’ shoulder and shaking him.

“Remus!” He calls loudly.

“ELLA!” Remus screams as he jolts upright, looking around with wild eyes. Sirius retracts his hand and tries to appear non-threatening, Remus on the cusp of hyperventilating. He calms himself marginally before grabbing the firewhiskey that had been left on the nightstand the night before, Sirius sighs.

It’s a few minutes later, and literally the entire bottle, before Remus takes a final shaky breath and looks over at Sirius sheepishly.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Don’t be daft, Moony. Do you want to talk about it?”

Remus just looks away, “I’m fine.” 

Sirius frowns, then he clears his throat and gets up. “I feel like some hot chocolate, care to join me in the kitchen, Moons?” Remus looks mildly surprised but nods. He avoids physical contact with Sirius and slowly descends the stairs on shaky legs, but otherwise seems pretty okay given how he had been mere minutes before.

When Mary wakes up it’s to find Remus looking like crap and passed out in the chair beside her bed with a blanket thrown over him.

She watches him for a moment, noticing his twitching in his sleep. He whimpers for a moment before jolting awake.

“Morning,” Mary says quietly when his breathing calms a little, he looks at her in surprise, clearly having forgotten where exactly he is.

“Mary, right, hi.”

“Did you and Sirius not sleep much last night?” She asks, a teasing smile on her face, he gives a slight quirk of the lips in return, she sighs, “You know, I often wished I’d get free. I didn’t consider what things would be like once I did.”

Remus frowns, nodding. He knows the feeling. “Meetins for tha Order go on where’ll be stayin. ’m sure you’d be welcome ta sit in when one happens, if you want to. But, perhaps you’d like ta livea life ‘way from th’War?” 

Mary frowns, “For all of you you’ve fought a war, but I basically got a free pass out of it. I’m not saying what happened to me was easy, fuck knows it wasn’t and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to be in a room with the door closed again but…this war…I spent the better part of seven years preparing for it. Everything that happened in school, the childhood I sacrificed, none of it will have meant anything. Even if I can’t do anything to help right now, the least I can do is be there.”

Remus nods, “Okay then.”

Half an hour later the two return to Grimmauld Place, Remus helping Mary walk since she’s still a touch shaky. She kindly ignores the fact that he’s drunk until she can find out what happened.

“So, this is your childhood home?” She asks, seeing Sirius who shakes his head.

“No, this is where I lived before I went home.” Mary smiles at Sirius before looking around the room, her breath catches as she sees a familiar face.

“It’s good to see you again, Miss Macdonald,” Mad-Eye tells her.

Mary grins, “Hiya Alastor.” Remus helps her over to a seat before he moves to sit beside Sirius. “So, you’re Sirius and Del’s kids,” Mary begins, looking over the two children who both look back challengingly, “Yeah I see it. How’s your Mum? Apart from, you know, gaol.”

Hermione shrugs, “I don’t know, we haven’t met her yet.”

Mary seems confused but nods, “Well, she’s a brilliant person so you’ve got that to look forward to.” Hermione seems very pleased with that answer. Though because of the answer itself or because of the reaction to them not having met their mother, none are sure.

“We should do that at some point. If you both want to, that is,” Sirius tells his kids. Hermione’s excited at the prospect, Harry seems less enthused.

“You should probably tell her you’re alive and free first,” Harry says, Sirius nods, “Among other things.” At this, Harry sends an awkward look to Remus who looks warily at Sirius.

Sirius nods, “Which I will do in the next few days.” They hear the floo activate and moments later Neville and Benni walk in carrying Crookshanks and Illa.

“Illa!” Harry exclaims happily, going over and chatting to her in Parseltongue.

“Thank you,” Hermione tells her cousins as she pets her cat. 

“Are you all right, Benni?” Remus asks his son, noticing the dejected look on his face. Benni looks mildly panicked before shaking his head and sitting at the table. Harry suddenly laughs and a strange hissing sound accompanies it from the snake.

“What’s going on?” Hermione asks her brother.

“Illa thinks Seamus fancies Dean,” Harry replies, seeming happier than anyone’s seen him in a while.

“Where’d you get the snake?” Sirius asks, the room grows tense, much to Mary and Sirius’ confusion.

“Draco,” Harry replies, leaving out the part about his Father.

“Draco _Malfoy_?” Sirius asks incredulously, Harry nods, “I thought you hated him? Didn’t you once call him a useless waste of carbon?”

Remus shakes his head, “No, that was James about Lucius.”

Sirius frowns, “Oh, sorry. My heads all over the place at the moment. Okay, but I _know_ you didn’t like the kid. What happened?”

“I moved in with he and Professor Malfoy,” Harry replies, Sirius’ frown deepens, “They got me away from the Dursleys,” he adds, knowing Sirius will approve of that, at least.

“Good. However, in the last war Voldemort frequented Malfoy Manor. So be careful, purposefully or not, this may be putting everyone, including Lucius, in more danger than you were in to begin with.”

Harry frowns, “Why Lucius?” Sirius hesitates.

“He knows who his Father is,” Remus tells his heart.

Sirius hesitates a moment longer until Harry raises an expectant and challenging eyebrow, “Harry, he killed James and Lily for hiding you from him. If Voldemort doesn’t know you are there, how do you think he would react to Lucius keeping that from him? And if, to protect himself and Draco, Lucius has already _told_ Voldemort, then you may be in danger anyway.” Harry opens his mouth to retort, but Sirius holds up a hand, “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. If you are there then Lucius is clearly willing to take any risks involved and I’ve no doubt you’ve thought of most of this. All I am saying is keep your eyes open, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Harry seems surprised, “You aren’t mad?”

Sirius looks confused, “Mad?”

“About me staying with the Malfoys.”

“Of course not. I’m rather thankful they got you away from Petunia.”

“She apologised,” Harry says after a few moments of silence, everyone looks over in shock, “Apparently Draco tried to pull exactly what you did when you first won her over. She recognised his name, too. Knew he was a wizard. She apologised to me, explained herself.”

“Better have been a bloody good explanation,” Remus grumbles.

“There wasn’t much left to say on my part, Uncle Moony had already bitched her out about it.” 

Sirius looks to Remus who doesn’t seem at all repentant.

“Well, it sounds like everything is working out then.”

“Lucius has a kid?” Mary asks, everyone seems confused for a minute.

“Oh, right. You were dead before then. Yes, Draco Malfoy, my God-son. Brilliant kid if a bit…” Remus trails off.

“He’s sort of a giant bag of dicks sometimes,” Harry tells her. Remus and Sirius suddenly look to each other, both seem amused but unsure if it’s appropriate to laugh. Benoit tugs on his Père’s arm and gives him a questioning look.

“I called Sirius something very similar though, mildly more… _intense_ , many years ago,” Remus explains, Sirius nods.

“When and how have I not heard about this? Or was this after I was captured?” Mary questions.

“No, it was in sixth year. When we were, um, having that fight…” Remus explains awkwardly.

“What fight?” Neville asks.

“I made a very bad decision which could have had very severe consequences for Remus and Sev. Remus wasn’t very happy with me afterwards.”

“Is that why Professor Snape used to hate you?” Neville questions, Sirius nods, “How come you get along now?”

“Severus forgave me.”

“He did?” Mary asks in shock.

Sirius nods, “More for Remus than anything else, I think but, yes.”

“James and Lily would be pleased.” Sirius nods sadly. 

Neville remembers what he’d seen in Harry’s memory of the attack at Godric’s Hollow and looks over to the boy he now thinks of as his cousin, unsurprised to see a complicated look on his face. “Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?” Harry looks up in surprise but nods. He says something to Illa who nods and slithers over to Benni, nuzzling his hand affectionately and the boy allows her to climb up and drape herself over his shoulders.

Harry and Neville walk out and into a room down the hall with the family tree.

“Everything okay, Nev?”

“I was going to ask you that.” Harry frowns in confusion, Neville sighs, he can’t believe he’s about to think this, but he wishes Malfoy were here to talk to Harry, “Are you ever going to tell them the truth?”

“What truth?”

“That Aunt Lily didn’t save you. That she nearly got you killed.”

Harry hesitates, “What would be the point?” He asks. The childishness he’s been showing since the trial falling away, “She didn’t mean to. It was instinct to dive out of the way. Anyone would have.”

“You wouldn’t,” Neville says, “Uncle James clearly wouldn’t have. I doubt Uncle Sirius or Uncle Remus would have either.”

“Uncle Moony wouldn’t have because he has severe depression issues. That hardly counts.”

“He’d do it anyway and you know it,” Neville tells him, “Harry, I’m not saying she’s a bad person. You’re right, a lot of people would have done the same. But doesn’t it annoy you that they all think she saved you?”

Harry frowns, “Yes, it does. It especially annoys me because they think my Father tried to kill me and he didn’t. That night, he didn’t. It annoys me because they think that curse didn’t hit me, think I didn’t feel it. I didn’t know before, I didn’t remember, now because of that stupid pensieve I can’t forget. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. What is the point of telling them now? All it will do is break the image they have of her. I know what that’s like, I don’t want that for them.” Neville fidgets for a moment. “What?”

“Something weird happened that night Harry, with the spell. It _should_ have killed you. Just like it should have in the Department of Mysteries.”

“It didn’t.”

“Yes, I know. They might know why!”

Harry bites his lip as he thinks, “Maybe we could…alter the story, slightly.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, say it didn’t hit me that night. Say he tried it in the graveyard…”

Neville sighs, “Over the holidays the subject of what happened the night Cedric died came up,” He admits, “I didn’t tell them what, but I did tell them that you told me. I thought it might make them stop questioning it if they knew I knew.” Harry nods. “So, if I back you up, they’ll believe it.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Not at all, but knowing what happened might give us an advantage for…our extra-curriculars.” 

Harry smirks, “I like the way you’re thinking. But if that is the case, I’d rather certain other people not know about it.”

“Then when we get back to school, I think we should search the library for information.”

“There’s a bunch of books in this house that they wouldn’t dare have within a school. If it will be anywhere it will be here.”

Neville frowns, “There’s just one problem. No one else has been known to survive the Killing Curse. What exactly am I meant to be looking for?”

Harry frowns at the floor, his entire stance having shifted throughout the conversation until it’s Inimicus Neville is standing before. Somehow though, it doesn’t make him feel small. It makes him feel stronger, because this man before him, the man they all trust to lead them to victory, trusts his judgement, listens to what he says, and wants his opinions.

“The Unforgivables. Why are they grouped together?” Neville seems confused. “Look for any reference to an Unforgivable not working on someone. Any Unforgivable. And find if there’s anything in common between them. Look for when they became the ‘Unforgivables’ and why.” 

Neville nods, “Yes, Sir.”

“And be subtle. If someone finds you poking around in there, they will get very suspicious very quickly.” 

Neville nods again, “Anything else?”

Harry debates something for a moment before shaking his head, “Not for you. Right, we should get back,” Harry says, shaking off Inimicus.

“…tell her before the Prophet does,” Moody is saying as they walk back into the room, Remus nods.

“Tell who what?” Harry asks.

“Tell Jamie about me,” Sirius replies, “Everything all right?”

Harry smiles, “Peachy.”


	25. I Wasn't Made To Fall In Line

Chapter 24 – I Wasn’t Made To Fall In Line

Note: Chapter Title from Christina Aguilera’s song ‘Fall In Line’ featuring Demi Lovato

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Harry smiles, “Peachy.”_

Now,

“I think it’s a fair question!” Hermione calls after her brother as Harry ignores her and keeps walking into the Gryffindor common room, “Oh, honestly Harriso-”

“It’s _Harry_.”

“Not when you’re annoying me it’s not,” Hermione replies. Harry stops walking and glares at her.

“Hey, you’re back! How’s Sirius?” Ginny asks, walking down from the dorm.

Neville smiles at her, “He’s good. Well, alive and free.”

“But not good?” Ginny questions, Neville seems uncomfortable with the topic so she comes closer and talks quieter, “What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t think he’s sleeping much. I’m not sure if that’s because of his problems or Uncle Remus’.”

“Remus’?” Ginny asks in confusion.

“I’m sure Inimicus will explain what happened later,” Neville whispers to her very quietly, she nods, “He and Uncle Sirius are together now, though.”

“Harry and Sirius?” Ginny asks looking disturbed.

“No, Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius.” 

Ginny squeals in delight, “YES! BLOODY FINALLY!”

“Told her about Remus and Sirius?” Harry guesses, Neville nods.

“Geez, only took twenty years and two marriages,” Ginny says.

“Hey, come on, one of those marriages was our Mother, can we not make it sound like it was just getting in the way?” Harry requests.

Hermione looks at him in surprise, “My God, did you just refer to Del Black as our _Mother_?”

“Mio, please, not now.” 

Hermione narrows her eyes at him for a moment, then huffs, “Fine. I’m going to find Pansy.”

“Where’s Ron?” Harry asks Ginny who rolls her eyes.

“Detention with Snape.”

“What did he do?”

“Everyone’s got a different story, but they all end in the potions classroom blowing up. Dumbledore had called Snape out and insisted to speak with him despite a class going on and…well, without supervision…”

Harry sighs, “Dumbledore doesn’t seem to be thinking things through lately.” Harry spies a few concerned looks out the corner of his eye. He, of all people, questioning Dumbledore’s faculties? 

“What’s going on with you and Mio?”

Harry sighs again, this time for real. He nods towards the portrait hole, “Walk with me?” Ginny nods, following him out.

They walk in silence for a minute before Ginny turns to Harry, “Okay, spill.”

“She wants to go with Sirius to meet our Mother,” Harry replies.

“And?”

“And she wants me to go with her.”

Ginny nods, “And you don’t want to.” Harry shakes his head. “Why not?”

“Because she doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“She’s your mother, Harry.” 

Harry stops walking, they find themselves on the astronomy tower. He leans on the railing and looks out over the scene. “All my life I’ve thought I’m the son of Lily and James Potter. Thought they died. I thought my parents were dead and I grew up an Orphan. Only none of it’s true. What is true is that I grew up alone and without parents. I have no interest in gaining them now.”

Ginny frowns, leaning beside him, “You didn’t feel this way about gaining family a few weeks ago when you found out about Mio.”

“I didn’t find out about Mio a few weeks ago.” Ginny raises an eyebrow. “I mean, I did, but I already knew I had a sister, and I knew that she was here at Hogwarts.”

“How?”

“Jamie and Uncle Moony. I could have questioned further, I didn’t. Not until it was Hermione.”

“But you call Remus ‘Uncle Moony’ now, why is it different?”

Harry frowns, “I didn’t already have an Uncle. Not really, I’d hardly count Uncle _Vernon_ after all. He wasn’t replacing anyone.”

“But you just said yourself that you don’t have parents.”

“I said I grew up without them. I also grew up thinking I knew them.”

“So you don’t want to meet your Mother because you grew up thinking Lily Potter was your Mother…” Ginny sounds confused until she trails off, her eyes suddenly filled with understanding, “You grew up loving her like one. And James you loved and thought of as your Father. So even though they aren’t, it’s still like you’re replacing the parents you thought you had.”

Harry nods slowly, “I guess I didn’t think about that but, yes. With Sirius, it didn’t matter so much. I had a relationship with him as my God-Father and he wasn’t around anymore, so it was fine. But I don’t know this woman. All I know is she hasn’t been here and she’s the reason I was lied to. But she’s never been a mother. Not to me. I get that Mio is happy. She’s found her family at long last and wants all of it, but I accepted a long time ago that I would never get that. Because my family wasn’t out there somewhere, they were dead. This has always been my life and I’ve been fine with that. I don’t know how to…”

“Have a family?” Ginny asks, Harry bites his lip and nods. Ginny wraps an arm around him, leaning her head on his shoulder, “I think Hermione has forgotten that it’s not been this big mystery to you. You knew who your parents were, they were just dead. And even though it’s not true, it means that there was never an empty slot there for Sirius and Del to now step in and fill. If all Sirius can be right now is your God-Father, if all you can do is be like you two were before, I think he’ll be fine with that. And as for Del, you don’t have to accept her as a mother. But can’t you do as you’ve done for your various Aunts and Uncles, your cousins, me and my family? Can’t you just accept her as generic family and not worry about trying to fit her into a box that isn’t quite empty?” 

Harry nods slowly, “I guess I can try.”

The two walk down to dinner together, quickly finding their seats at the Main Table.

“Welcome back,” Blaise greets.

Harry nods, “Thanks. Anything interesting happen while we were gone?”

“Nope!” Ron exclaims loudly, causing many laughs around him.

“Is this about the potions accident?” Hermione asks.

Pansy shakes her head, “I’ll tell you about it later, Cor Meum,” She tells her, Hermione nods.

“Speaking of later,” Harry begins after an encouraging look from Ginny, “Mio, I was thinking we could go on that visit with Sirius some weekend? I’m sure we could get permission from McGonagall,” He says, she looks at him in shock before beaming at him and nodding. 

Harry looks up when he feels eyes on him and finds Dumbledore looking at him while speaking to McGonagall, Dumbledore smiles gently at him when he catches his eye. Harry nods to him before turning back to the table.

“Why is the Headmaster acting weird?” Harry asks the table.

“Inimicus,” They all say.

“Did something else happen?” Hermione asks in confusion.

“All the accidents around the school. Well people are starting to talk, like maybe Dumbledore is getting too old and can’t control the students. _He_ thinks that’s been done on purpose, thinks this Inimicus is trying to undermine him. I think he’s just getting paranoid because of the war. You know, with people attacking you on all sides, anyone’d start seeing plots everywhere,” Romilda explains from where she’s sat between Ron and Benni.

“Regardless, he’s started calling people in for questioning when something happens,” Ron tells him, “Making sure none of us are joining up.”

“Giving us reason to, if you ask me,” Mandy mutters, they all look at her in surprise, she leans in, the rest do too. “Well think about it. If it’s so easy for someone to get in his head and mess with him, how well can he really protect us? He can’t even protect himself. And if he can’t bring down Inimicus, what chance does he have against you-know-who?”

“What’s joining Inimicus going to help?” Lavender asks.

“If Dumbledore can’t bring down Voldemort, then we have to find someone who _can_ , else we’re all dead.”

“And you think Inimicus can?” Draco asks.

Mandy shrugs, “I don’t know, but at the moment, I think they’ve got a better chance of it than that old coot does.”

“We don’t even know they’ve got anything against Voldemort,” Hermione points out, “For all we know, they work for him.”

Lavender shakes her head, “I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“That snake would never have been able to kill Dumbledore. That wasn’t an attempted murder, it was a message. Inimicus was letting Dumbledore, and the rest of us, know they’re here. You-know-who has no need to do that. Besides, if you-know-who could get into Hogwarts, he’s not going to be sending a snake,” Lavender explains.

“If he’s not really trying to kill Dumbledore, what does he want?” Romilda asks.

Lavender sighs, “Now that, I don’t know.”

“Well, say Dumbledore _is_ right. Say all these accidents and the recent chaos really _is_ Inimicus. If that’s true then they’re clearly trying to discredit the Headmaster. Dead or not, they want him gone,” Mandy says.

“It’s got to be someone within the school,” Romilda says, “They’ve got way too much access for anything else. Maybe they don’t think Dumbledore can beat you-know-who either.”

Mandy frowns, “Well if it comes down to it, I know who I’ll be backing. My Pa’s always said, ‘If you don’t like either option, make another.’”

That night, Inimicus and his Reapers meet in the graveyard at their usual time of 3am.

“Damn, I’ve missed this,” Pansy states as she walks in with Blaise and Draco. Harry’s there having a very intense looking conversation with Illa, the other Gryffindors standing off to the side.

“Me too,” Hermione agrees, moving to throw her arms around her girlfriend’s neck and kiss her.

“You literally saw each other a few hours ago,” Draco complains, they ignore him. To their great surprise, Remus walks in from another tunnel.

“Found it,” Remus says to Harry.

“Okay,” Harry says at last, standing up and facing them, “Everyone’s here.”

“How did Professor Lupin get here?” Luna asks curiously in her airy voice that is both endearing and frustrating to listen to. It makes you want to write off everything she says as gibberish, yet, if you bother to listen, her words are logical and very, _very_ , helpful.

“The diary made me realise this was meant to be a safe place so, logically, there’d be a way to get out of the castle,” Harry says, “I theorised it would be within the forest.”

“Which it was, though you will not like where,” Remus tells him, shuddering slightly.

“I had a theory on that too, I assume I’m right.”

“Spider nest?” Harry nods, Remus does too.

“Why’s it always spiders?” Ron complains.

“How’d you know the spiders are involved?” Pansy asks.

Harry sighs, “A memory, it’s a long story. For now, how’re we going?”

“Pretty well,” Ron says, “Since Dumbledore started questioning people about the incidents around the school, chatter about it all has really increased.”

“Yes, I noticed that,” Harry says, “Sounds like it’s going our way, too.” 

“For the most part. There have been some whispers of people less than thrilled with it all but, they seem to be keeping to themselves,” Ginny tells him.

“I recruited Mandy a while ago, but she’s been playing it up lately and it’s certainly been working in our favour,” Pansy says to them all, “Also, I have an updated list of your followers. It’s been charmed to update as more join. My concern is the security of it.”

“Can we use the same spell as is on the map?” Harry asks Remus who shakes his head.

“Not if you want it to be truly secure. Afterall, George, Fred, and Jamie found a way into that. You’d be wanting another level or two on it,” He replies.

“I’ve been looking into spells like that,” Ron says, “I can help Pansy with it?” 

Harry nods, “Good. Blaise, I want you working with Hermione and looking into Scrimgeour.”

“You’re not going to try and recruit the Minister for Magic, are you?” Blaise asks incredulously.

Harry shakes his head, “No, Blaise. I want to find a means of controlling or influencing him. I also want to know what’s happened to Fudge since he’s been fired.”

“I think someone outside the school might be better off doing that one,” Neville comments nervously. Harry hesitates a moment, then nods slowly.

“What about George?” Draco suggests.

“Brilliant, Ginny?” Ginny nods her agreement, Harry smirks. “Perfect.”

“He has some news from his task. Apparently Slughorn was close with Tom during school, he seems to think there’s a chance he knew something that Dumbledore wanted to know.”

“Speaking of, did you kill him?” Blaise asks.

Harry shakes his head though he seems more focused on what Ginny just told him. “No, the Death Eaters were after him when Dumbledore and I went to get him to begin with. I think they must have caught up to him,” Harry replies off-handedly.

“Then why wasn’t the mark in the sky?” Remus asks.

“I really don’t know. Perhaps someone should ask Severus.”

“I can do that,” Remus suggests, Harry nods.

“You two still talk after breaking up again?” Draco asks unsurely.

Remus looks at his God-Son in confusion, “Breaking up again? We never got back together, Little Dragon.”

Draco and Pansy exchange confused looks. “Erm, Re,” Pansy begins, “We er…we sort of walked in on the two of you the day you arrived to teach again,” She explains, the kids in the room look over to him in a mixture of shock, disgust, and confusion.

Remus flushes, “Oh, that. Um, no, that wasn’t…I mean we didn’t…erm…”

“Was a casual thing, got it, don’t need any more details,” Pansy declares, looking disturbed.

“You two thought my parents had gotten back together and you didn’t think to tell me?!” Blaise asks his two best friends, incredulous and annoyed.

“Well you were really upset when they split up and we didn’t know what was happening, we didn’t want you to get hurt again so we decided that until they mentioned something, we wouldn’t,” Draco explains, Blaise still looks unhappy but nods.

“Um, if Blaise and I are looking into Scrimgeour, what about my research into Grindelwald?” Hermione asks, getting them back on topic.

“Why were you looking into Grindelwald?” Remus asks.

“Because you weren’t around for me to ask. Now you are. I know you didn’t seem to want to elaborate before but I want details on Ariana,” Harry responds.

Remus nods slightly, “The reason I didn’t want to elaborate before is because when I got my information, Peter was with me,” Remus tells Harry who does not seem very surprised. Then again, he never does, that doesn’t always mean much. “And the person who gave me the hint that sent me looking was Bellatrix.” Again no one seems surprised, they’d already known that bit anyway.

“What did she say?” Harry questions, prepared to believe it after everything he’s heard from Draco and from his own interaction with her in the Department of Mysteries.

Remus bites his lip and clears his throat, “That the non-human spiritous apparition is after Albus and to stop her.”

“Why would Aunt Bella care?” Draco asks, “She hated Dumbledore.”

Remus sighs, “She didn’t hate Dumbledore, she hated the situations we all ended up in, and she hated the way he reacted to them, but I do not believe she hated him. Not when in her right mind, anyway. But regardless of her feelings on Dumbledore, more than anything she wanted Voldemort stopped, and gave her life to see it happen. So naturally, I dropped everything and went to find out what is going on.”

“Because you were in love with her,” Hermione realises, “ _She’s_ Jamie’s mother, the one you won’t talk about.” The room stops and they look at Remus in a desperate and almost horrified confusion.

Remus takes a moment to take a deep breath, stalling long enough that everyone thinks the entire subject will be side-stepped again, only it isn’t. “You all know she was declared innocent because a spell had shattered her mind. None of what happened was her fault,” Remus begins, “What you don’t know is that prior to that, Bellatrix and I had been together since our first year in Hogwarts, save for two and a half years during which her parents had her under the Imperius Curse.”

“Why did they have her under the curse?” Luna asks, it’s not exactly one of the questions the others are burning to ask, but they are curious enough to wait for an answer.

“Her sister was disowned for marrying a Muggle-born. Bellatrix tried to stop it, I’m not sure exactly what went down, only that they decided she would fall in line and marry Rodolphus whether she wanted to or not.”

“How did the spell get broken?” Pansy questions cautiously.

“Lucius, Narcissa, and Bellatrix murdered Abraxas Malfoy, Druella Black, and Cygnus Black III the night Druella and Cygnus decided their two remaining daughters would take the Dark Mark. Trixie broke through the curse enough to get a warning off to Lucius who came over and the three made sure none of them would have to join Voldemort.”

“But they all did,” Ron points out.

Remus nods, “That’s the night Sev, Narcissa, and Lucius joined him. Again, I am uncertain exactly what occurred, only that they fought him, tried to kill him, and they failed. In the end a deal was struck, one that would protect me and Regulus Black and keep Narcissa from having to take the Dark Mark. I got Trixie back for a few years before I lost her to another mind-altering spell. And eventually, she was lost to everyone in death.” Everything is really quiet for a while before Remus clears his throat, “Ariana Dumbledore is possessing Tom, as she did his Uncle, in an effort to kill Albus.”

“Because he killed her, right?” Pansy asks, Remus nods.

“Why did he join Grindelwald?” Neville wonders aloud.

Remus sighs and shrugs, “Why does anyone join these people?”

“Fear, hatred, love, status, the usual motives of everything we do,” Pansy replies, everyone blinks at her, “Oh, was that a rhetorical question?”

“No, it’s not. If we find out why he joined him we may be able to use it against him,” Harry tells her.

“How do we find out?” Remus asks, “Grindelwald isn’t exactly in the most…reliable state of mind.”

“We’ll have to ask someone he might have confided in,” Harry says.

“Like who?” Pansy questions, “He trusts no one, he has no friends, and his sister is dead.”

Ron frowns, “Ariana isn’t the only family that Dumbledore has.”

“Do you really think Aberforth is going to help?” Remus questions, “Believe me, I know from personal experience that no matter how much anger you hold for a sibling…they are still your sibling.”

“Does your experience include said sibling killing the youngest?” Pansy asks sarcastically.

Remus grimaces slightly, “Yes.” The kids all look at him in shock, though Harry’s shock is a mere raise of his eyebrows. “It’s a long story, but my point is I doubt Aberforth is going to turn on his brother. At the very least he could warn Albus of whoever it is who speaks to him.”

“If he’s anything like his brother then he won’t help a faceless henchmen of another wannabe Dark Lord, no offence Inimicus,” Blaise tells them, swallowing harshly at Harry’s less than impressed look. “I only mean to say that from the outside, to one who has seen many take this path, it will look no different. Especially given his family history with Grindelwald.”

“Well then we need to find someone else Dumbledore may have confided in. Or at the very least, someone who might know who Dumbledore would have confided in,” Harry announces.

“Peter might,” Remus offers, mildly hesitant. He’s still not sure how Harry feels about the man.

“He’s also a coward and he murdered a teenager,” Harry replies harshly.

 _Suppose that answers that question_ , Remus thinks to himself. “Be that as it may, he is also a reliable source of accurate information pertaining to both Dumbledore and Grindelwald. Should he be willing to help us, it is not an asset we can afford to ignore.”

Harry looks at him for a moment before he looks away, clearly debating the course he wishes to take.

Illa slithers up his leg and shoulder to curl around his neck, “ _Why do you hesitate to follow the logical path?_ ”

“ _I watched the one I loved die because that man wanted his girlfriend back,_ ” Harry replies coldly.

Illa thinks for a moment, “ _Forgive me but, are you not currently leading your hatchling cousin to believe his only friend is dead because of your own need to avenge a Father who it turns out survived anyway?_ ”

“ _This is not about Sirius_ ,” Harry insists.

“ _Harrison-_ ”

“ _It’s_ Harry _._ ”

“ _You are shaped by your past, as is everyone. Trying to shove it away because you do not want to acknowledge this will not change it. You lost your father and you were angry, you wanted revenge on the man you blamed for his death. Your father is alive yet still you wish to bring Dumbledore down. Question,_ Harry _, how much is your vengeance worth?_ ”

Harry falters for a moment before he looks back at the others, then frowns as he realises, “ _It’s not just about me anymore._ ”

Illa gives what Harry can only assume is the snake version of a smug smile, “ _Then perhaps you should allow their say in this as well._ ” Harry still seems hesitant, Illa snake-sighs. “ _They trust you to lead them to victory. So do it. No matter what it takes._ ”

Harry nods slightly to Illa, then more solidly to the others. “Get in touch with Pettigrew, find out what he knows,” Harry orders. Something about it causes a shift in the air and all can feel it. Something has changed and, for whatever reason, they all believe it can only be for the better.

“Yes, Sir,” Remus replies.

“Remus,” Harry begins, “About your capture-”

“I shared nothing with them, I swear,” Remus assures him though it does nothing to assuage the concern on the faces of those who had not heard about his abduction prior to now.

“I did not think you had for a moment. I merely wished to make sure you are all right and enquire about Danielle. Is she still hidden and safe?”

Remus nods, “Yes, of course,” He says before clearing his throat. “I am fine, and Danielle is safe. I had not even made it there before Greyback nabbed me. I plan to give it a few more days before I attempt to head back. If that is acceptable?” Remus questions, Harry nods his assent. “In that case, I will speak with Severus about Slughorn’s demise and Peter about possible confidants of Dumbledore before I leave.”

“Meet me here in four days time, you can tell me what you have found then,” Harry instructs, Remus nods. “Right, I think that is everything. However, with Sirius back in the picture we must move carefully. He is very protective and if he catches wind that something is wrong within Hogwarts he will do everything he can to pull Mio and I away from it. So he mustn’t find out, am I clear?” Harry asks them all, eyes hovering over his Sister, Uncle, and Neville in particular. They all nod. “Good. Then we should all get some sleep.” At the word sleep, Harry once again gives his Uncle a significant look though this one goes entirely ignored.

As the others begin to leave the Graveyard, Harry pulls Ginny aside.

“Something wrong?” Ginny asks him.

Harry frowns, “I was about to ask you that. You were very quiet.”

Ginny hugs herself as she sighs, looking around the Chamber, “It’s this place. It just…brings back a lot of memories.” Harry nods slowly, Ginny looks at her friend with lost eyes, “I saw his memories too, you know. I saw how much he adored your mother. And to know what he became…” Ginny walks over to the Basilisk carcass, placing her hand on its head, “To see the very thing he used to commit the murder that would lead your mother to run…” She shakes her head. “It’s not fair, Harry. None of it. They didn’t deserve this, no one deserved this.”

“How much did you see?” Harry asks her, furrowing his brows in obvious concern.

“I don’t know exactly. A lot more than I can remember but…it’s all sort of fuzzy. I remember up to when I tried to flush the book, then it all gets sort of patchy until I opened my eyes to find you in front of me…dying,” Ginny replies, turning to face him. “If I could remember more, I could be of more help.”

Harry strokes Illa’s scales for a moment as he thinks, then he nods. “I’ll look into it. For now, speak to George about Fudge, and get some sleep.”

Though Ginny nods her agreement to his words, she does not listen. Instead of going to bed, Ginny goes to the library. There’s something that everyone seems to have stopped thinking about, if Tom is alive in his body and possessed by Ariana like Ginny had been, then like her, perhaps he can be freed. And if he _can_ be freed, then she will make sure he is.

No matter what.

Knowing he doesn’t sleep, Remus decides to sneak through the castle’s secret passageways and go ask Severus about Slughorn now.

He finds his way to his ex-husband’s office easily and slips inside, unnoticed by even a portrait.

“Remus?” Severus asks as he looks up from his work and sees his friend.

Remus smiles, “Severus, how are you?”

“…Confused. Is Jamie okay? I’d have been told if Little Benni wasn-”

“The kids are fine, Sev,” Remus assures the other man. “I’m not here about them.”

“Then why are you here?”

“A question. I assume you have heard of Slughorn’s death?” Remus asks.

“Is that your question?” Severus counters, dubious about this visit and Remus’ odd demeanour.

“No, I’m merely wondering if you know how it happened.”

“Why?”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

Severus gives him a deadpanned look, “If this were simple curiosity, Re, you’d have sent an owl. Or at the very least, visited during the day, not at four in the morning.”

Remus nods slowly, “Fair point.” Severus raises an eyebrow, Remus sighs. “I can feed you some bullshit if you’d like, but at the end of it we’ll both know I was lying so there’s little point.”

Severus nods, “Yet still you will not tell me the truth? Surely after everything we’ve been through, Remus, you would know you can trust me.”

“I do, Merlin, Severus, of course I do. It’s not about that.”

“Then what is it about? Because if it’s Sirius, I will punch him.”

“Severus, are you jealous of Sirius?” Remus asks with a frown that is part concern and part friendly teasing.

Severus rolls his eyes, “Don’t flatter yourself, Remus. I just have no desire to lose one of my only friends if Black suddenly decides he doesn’t like me again.”

Remus walks forward and hugs Severus, “You are one of my oldest friends, Severus. It hasn’t been Sirius that I have relied on for the past fifteen years, it has been you. And it was you that made sure I actually survived after Sirius…died. You will never lose me, old friend. Never.”

“Nor will you lose me,” Severus tells him, “So you’ve no reason at all to not tell me why you’re asking about Slughorn.”

“Inimicus.”

Severus looks at him for several moments before he nods, “Nobody knows who did it. But that’s exactly how everyone knows.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Remus asks him.

“Only one asset in this war is completely unknown to all but the Dark Lord himself. Whoever the spy is in the Order is the same person who killed Slughorn. That’s why it’s all so secret, that’s why no mark was left, that’s why no one is asking questions.”

“And you’ve no idea who this spy is?”

Severus shakes his head, “I’m sorry, Re, but I really don’t.”

Remus nods, “Thank you, Sev.”

“What is it you once said? ‘Should you need help, even if you can’t give details beyond the task, we’re here?’” Remus smiles softly at him as he nods. “I’m here, Remus. Always.”

“I know.”

“Though, you never did explain how you came to be working with Inimicus,” Severus points out.

“Nor have I any idea how you got to be involved.”

The two hold gazes for a moment before nodding at each other, knowing they can say no more.

“Good night, Sev.”

Severus gives a small smile, “Sweet dreams, Re.”


	26. I Dream of Trixie

Chapter 25 – I Dream of Trixie

Note: Chapter Title is a play on the old tv show _I Dream of Jeannie_

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“Thank you, Sev.”_

_“What is it you once said? ‘Should you need help, even if you can’t give details beyond the task, we’re here?’” Remus smiles softly at him as he nods. “I’m here, Remus. Always.”_

Now,

Remus is glad to head back to Grimmauld Place after his conversation with Severus. He’s less glad to find Moody, Mary, and Sirius all up and at the kitchen table.

“Rem, hey. Where’ve you been?” Sirius asks him as he walks in.

“Why are you all up?” Remus asks as he walks into the actual kitchen and pours himself some whiskey before walking back and joining them.

“You aren’t the only insomniac around,” Mary tells him with a small smile.

“Hm,” Remus replies before he yawns tiredly. “In answer to your question, I went to see Severus.”

“Why is he awake at four-thirty am?” Sirius questions.

“He’s a zombie, Sirius, he doesn’t sleep.”

“Wait, what?” Mary asks.

“Did you not…?” Remus begins in surprise before he sighs, “Of course not, hasn’t come up I suppose. So, a few years back there was a new creature that suddenly appeared. Started spreading like mad, Severus was one of the first few to get bit.”

“Not that he told anyone, of course,” Moody grumbles.

“Hey, he never bit anyone,” Remus defends.

“Didn’t he try to eat you?” Moody asks.

“Well, fair is fair. I’ve tried to eat him two or three times now. What’s a little cannibalism between friends?”

“…why do we live lives in which that really isn’t that much of a concerning statement?” Mary asks.

Sirius snorts, “Because we made the mistake of becoming friends with Remus Lupin.”

“Oi! You lot are lucky to have me. I’m bloody lovable.”

Sirius smirks at him, “That you are.” He then grins and leans forward to kiss Remus who kisses back happily.

“Can’t decide whether to coo over the cuteness or puke because of cuteness,” Mary says, Moody snickers. “Right, to bed with all of us.”

For once, they all actually do as they are told.

As Remus lays in bed he watches Sirius long after the other man falls asleep cuddled in beside him. He feels guilty, as he so often does, because he is lying to the man he loves. Lying to the man who trusts him above all else. Lying to him not just about his own allegiances but also about the safety of both his children.

Eventually, he too falls asleep.

_“Hello Remy.”_

_Remus looks up in shock at the voice, his eyes fill with tears as he sees who spoke. “Trixie? Ho-How are you here?”_

_Bellatrix giggles, sounding her usual levels of crazy rather than post spell crazy, skipping forward slightly. “You need me. Where else would I be?”_

_Remus feels the tears spill over, so very thankful that the fear he always feels at the thought of his lost love is not present now. “Trixie, what am I doing?”_

_Trixie shrugs, “What you’ve always wanted to. Destroying Dumbledore.”_

_“I didn’t want to destroy him.”_

_“Really?” He frowns. She holds a hand out to a bird on a tree, the bird jumps onto her finger and she strokes it lightly with her other hand. “As I recall, you threatened to eat him several times.”_

_“He kept messing with you, with_ us _.”_

_“So it’s okay to want to destroy him when it’s for our benefit, but when it is for someone else it’s an injustice?” Remus’ frowns deepens. “Remy, why didn’t you like Albus when we were kids?”_

_“He was a threat.”_

_“A threat to what?”_

_“My Pack.”_

_Bella nods, holding her hand up. The bird flies off. She walks over to Remus, putting a hand on his cheek and stroking his face with her thumb. “And what is he now?”_

_Remus feels the pain in his chest intensify. “Trixie,” Remus whispers, tears falling freely._

_She leans her forehead to his. “You know exactly who he is now, what made him this way, the lessons he’s learnt and the trials he has conquered. You know the mistakes he has made and the consequences he lives with every day. You feel sorry for him, you do not think he deserves more pain. You think he needs to be saved.” Remus nods. “Some people do not_ want _to be saved. Maybe you are right, maybe he doesn’t deserve it. But he does need to be stopped, before he destroys everything in his attempts to make it right.”_

_“And at what point am I just like him?”_

_Bella smiles sadly, “The point in which you forget why you started fighting this war. And I don’t mean after Mary died, I mean every time in school you lifted a finger to fight. Remember_ why _Remus, and you won’t ever be like the man who tries so hard to forget.”_

_“I love you, Trixie, I miss you so much.”_

_“And I you, Remy. Always.”_

Remus wakes up with tears on his face to Sirius’ concerned expression looming over him.

“Rem? Are you all right?” Sirius asks. Remus just pulls him back down beside him in the bed, buries his face in his chest, and cries. “Remus, hey, hey c’mon Mate, what’s wrong?”

“Tri-Tri-” Remus tries to explain, but his sobs prevent the words from getting out. Sirius strokes soothing circles into his back as he holds him close, giving Remus time to get his words happening. “Trixie,” Remus eventually gets out. Sirius panics slightly, knowing how quickly this subject can go downhill with Remus. Though, he’s already having a breakdown. “She’s dead,” Remus adds before he sobs again.

“Ah,” Sirius says quietly, pulling Remus even closer to him and holding him. “It’s more than that though,” Sirius says, debating his words carefully, “Bella’s not just dead. She’s free, Remy.”

Remus clings to him as he cries, finally able to mourn.

When Remus and Sirius finally go downstairs they find everyone else in the house awake, and Jamie and the twins eating breakfast with them.

“Dad? Are you all right?” Jamie asks when she sees her Father’s reddened eyes.

Remus smiles at her, and despite the sadness surrounding him, somehow he seems lighter than she’s ever known him to be. She walks over to him and he hugs her close. “Yeah, Baby Girl, I’m okay. Just had an interesting dream.”

Knowing she’s probably pushing things a bit, Jamie pulls away from her father enough to look at him as she asks, “What about?” She bites her lip nervously, waiting for his reaction. 

He sees it and smiles in remembrance before he leads her back to the table. “Your mother, actually.”

Jamie’s eyes widen, “Mum? W-What about her?”

“Oh, basically just her telling me to quite second-guessing myself like a fucking moron,” Remus replies with a self-deprecating chuckle.

“Yeah, that sounds like her,” Sirius says with a laugh, “Probably followed by some gross cutesy couple-y thing that would make me retch.”

Remus rolls his eyes, “Just because you’re a child,” He says, then smirks, “Besides, didn’t you kiss Severus to show that you were okay with us getting back together?”

“ _WHAT?!?!??!??!_ ” Jamie squeals.

“Ugh, thanks for reminding me of that, Remy,” Sirius says, wiping off his mouth like it had just happened.

“Just waiting for a time to bring that up,” Remus replies with a shit-eating grin, “Always waiting.”

“Hey, Dad?” Jamie interrupts as she sees her Uncle about to complain about whatever reference her Dad just made that went way over her head.

“Yeah, Baby Girl?”

“What was Mum like?” She asks, hoping she isn’t about to send her Father into a panic attack. To her dismay, he freezes up, breathing becoming mildly ragged. She takes his hand and looks into his fear-widened eyes. 

Remus looks at her sadly, “I’m so sorry Jamie. Y-You should know your mother, or of her at least b-but I just can’t…” Remus trails off, accidentally squeezing Jamie’s hand as his breathing quickens mildly.

“You don’t have to say anything if you aren’t ready to,” She promises. Jamie hugs her father who hugs her back gratefully.

“You’re amazing, you know that?”

Jamie smiles, “I get it from my Dad.”

“Oi, Riddle,” Draco calls to Harry who spins around in the hallway and raises an eyebrow at him.

“Riddle?” Hermione asks her brother.

Harry shrugs, “It _is_ my name. He switches between that, Scarhead, and, on occasion, even acknowledges the fact that I have a first name.”

“Well, in my experience you seem to hate it so, you know,” Draco comments as he reaches them. “And given that I happen to know it was Uncle Re that came up with it, you should really appreciate it more.”

“He did?” The golden trio all ask in synch. Draco nods, looking between the three, mildly creeped out.

“Did you need something, Malfoy?” Harry asks. The two aren’t really sure anymore how close everyone thinks they are now that Harry is living with them and they’re forced to interact at school anyway thanks to Pansy and Mio dating. So they’re just acting awkward with friendly gestures which they assume is probably exactly what everyone would expect.

“Yeah, a word, not in a hallway. Your Weasel can come if he wishes.”

“Oh, but I can’t?” Hermione asks, looking unimpressed.

Draco rolls his eyes, “You are my sister, I thought it obvious that you were welcomed.” Hermione instantly brightens up, Draco chuckles and throws an arm over his younger sister’s shoulders as he leads them into a nearby secret passage.

“All right, what’s going on, Dray?” Harry asks once they’re away from prying ears and eyes.

“I found something that I think can help a seer recall a vision, or rather, they can see it again but in sort of a guided dreaming type of thing,” Draco tells them.

“Meaning Snape could see the vision he had of the battle again,” Ron surmises, Draco nods.

“Will he be willing to? From what he said to Ron, it sounds like it really shook him up,” Hermione points out.

“He owes Inimicus. We made a deal, remember? I held up my end, he works for me now. He’ll do it,” Harry states confidently.

“Where are we going to do this? If we do it in the Graveyard, your cover is completely blown,” Ron warns.

“Room of requirement?” Harry suggests, the others agree. “Brilliant. Draco, what do we need?”

Draco looks around awkwardly for a moment, “ _Weeeeell_ that’s erm, the thing, isn’t it?” The others look at him in confusion. “It’s more of a ritual than a spell or potion. We need the fur of a changed Werewolf, viciously torn out under the light of a full moon. Remus is off doing stuff, as you know, so we can’t get it from him. But the ritual won’t work without it.”

Harry’s seems hesitant for a moment before he gets a hard look in his eyes. “Then we shall have it. When’s the next full?”

Ron, Hermione, and Draco all sort of shrug and look uncertain. Then Draco pulls his enchanted paper out of his pocket, “Blaise will know.”

_Tutamen_

_When’s the full?_

_Amans_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Tomorrow night_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Draco shows the response to the others before shaking it off.

“Then in three days we shall have it. What else do you need?” Harry asks.

“An owl heart and water blessed by a Centaurs body.”

“Water blessed by a Centaurs body?” Ron questions.

Hermione screws up her nose, “He means their urine, Ron.”

“Gross.”

“Oh, speaking of gross, I also need the blood of the guilty and the blood of the tainted.”

“Where the fuck did you find this ritual?” Ron asks in disbelief and concern.

Draco rolls his eyes, “Everything else I can get easily.”

“What counts as guilty?” Harry asks.

“From what I gather, someone who’s used an unforgivable,” Draco replies.

Harry makes a mental note to tell Neville this, that connection between them could help him in his research. “And the tainted?”

“Someone whose soul has been touched by evil. Oh, and they have to come from different people.”

“All right, I’ll take care of it,” Harry tells them before smiling at Draco, “Good work.”

Draco flushes slightly, “Thanks.”

After that conversation, Harry excuses himself to go to the owlery where he sits and tries to stave off his anger.

“Illa was right, I have to make this work,” Harry tells himself, though he’d rather never send this letter. 

_Lillie,_

_I know this letter will seem out of the blue, I do hope you have not forgotten about me._

_I know why you left, why you had to run. I have this Uncle, you see. He’s like you, so I understand the fear your parents must have had for your future and the prejudice you would have faced here._

_Above all else I want you to know that I don’t care about it, you are everything you have always been and the bite did not change that._

_Anyway, I need your help._

_It’s complicated and I can’t explain but I need a tuft of fur from a Werewolf, viciously torn out under the light of a full moon._

_I know from my Uncle that Werewolves have a tendency to attack themselves if given no alternative and while I hope you aren’t being hurt, if you are, is there a chance there’s some fur around?_

_I know that is probably insensitive and rude but the situation is rather dire and said Uncle cannot help._

_Hank_

_P.S. I don’t live with the Dursleys anymore so if you choose to reply don’t send it there. As it is the school term, just send it to Hogwarts with Hedwig._

Harry’s honestly not sure why he’s so angry with Lillie and her parents. It’s not as though everyone else hasn’t hidden things from him in the past, Jamie _is_ the only one to consistently tell him the truth. It’s different though. Jamie is his cousin. Lillie was his everything.

But She’s not his everything anymore, and those that are need his help.

“To Dubai, Hedwig. To Lillie Polka.”

Benni sits in charms alone. He’s used to this. Though several of his peers and some older students tried to talk to him after Danielle had ‘died’, Benoit finds their presence grating. He still sits with his friend Kayla during meals, but as she doesn’t speak sign language, communicating beyond simple things Benni can convey with a nod or a gesture is usually more trouble than it’s worth and Benni can’t find it in himself to care.

He knows Danielle is all right, but he misses her terribly. They’d only known each other for twelve days, but Benni was sure he’d found a friend for life.

“Mr Lupin?” Benni snaps out of his musings at the sound of Professor Flitwick’s voice. “Professor Dumbledore would like to see you.” Professor Flitwick sounds rather exasperated so Benni can guess what this is about. He knows the interviews with students that Dumbledore has been organising. He’d been wondering when his turn would come. As one of Danielle’s close friends, he’s a little surprised it didn’t happen sooner. But then, considering who his parents are, perhaps it’s a surprise and show of his desperation that the Headmaster will speak with him at all. Benni gestures to his bag uncertainly, Flitwick gives him a gentle smile, “Best take it with you just in case.”

Benni nods, grabs his things and heads to the Headmaster’s office.

“Ah, Mr Lupin. Please, take a seat,” Professor Dumbledore invites, Benoit looks at him uncertainly as he sits down. Dumbledore clears his throat, “Now, Benni, I’m sure you’ve heard about the things going on in the school.”

Benni watches the Headmaster blankly, annoyed by the question but keeping that to himself.

“…right, well obviously the situation is under control, howev-”

Benni snorts derisively at that, biggest load of bullshit he’s ever heard since the last time his Père claimed not to be an alcoholic.

Dumbledore looks at him in thinly-veiled annoyance, though a slight smug look fills his eyes as he says, “Something to say?”

Benoit glares at him, “Things happening around the school,” Benni says to the absolute and total shock of the man before him. _Well good_. He takes care to make sure he is clearly understandable despite his French accent. “Things like how you’re completely unable to control your students? Things like the accidents taking place that are dangerous and hurting people and you can’t stop? Things like my best friend being dead because you failed to protect her? Yes, Headmaster, I’ve heard about the things going on in the school and in no way, shape, or form, are they ‘under control’.” Dumbledore sits in stunned silence, unsure how to deal with being caught so off-guard. Benni’s expression grows more venomous, “I hope he kills you like he killed her.” The truth of the matter is, Benni doesn’t know how to wish anyone dead, but seeing as Danielle isn’t dead she’s just gone, Benni feels the statement holds true.

“Now Benni-”

“And don’t think I don’t know the way you manipulate and bully my Papa,” Benni adds angrily, “My Père fails to see how truly _mental_ you are because he is blinded by his hatred of you. But I see it and, evidently, Inimicus sees it as well.” Benni can see it in Dumbledore’s eyes that he knows he’s totally lost control of the situation and Benni has him cornered. He feels pride swell within him as he smirks viciously, “I have nothing to do with Inimicus, Sir. But by hell am I rooting for him.”

With that, Benoit rises from his seat and walks out of the room. Benni smirks again, _That would be a great scene in a book._ He thinks to himself, _after taking the evil Headmaster to task, Little Benni Lupin stalked off down the hall,_ _leaving Dumbledore spluttering in her wake_. Benoit stops dead in the hallway at the bottom of Dumbledore’s stairs as he thinks over his past thought. _Her?_

Benni thinks that over for a moment, _it feels…right._ Benni frowns. Then he shakes her- _no, his_ head to clear all thoughts.

_It’s lunch time. I’m just going to go and eat lunch with my family._

Sirius and Remus are sat in the Three Broomsticks, waiting on Severus, Benoit, Harry, Hermione, Neville, Blaise, Draco, and Lucius. The ten of them decided to have lunch together, Benni getting special permission from Professor Sprout as his Head of House to go to Hogsmeade. Harry’s pretty sure it’s a scene taken directly from his nightmares.

At least his Father is not there as well.

When the eight from the school walk into the pub, they see the two canoodling at the table in the back corner that they’ve saved for them all, having pushed tables together to have enough seats.

“Damn that’s weird to see,” A voice says behind them.

Harry turns, a huge grin on his face as he runs at and hugs the person who spoke. “JAMIE!”

Jamie smiles, hugging him back, “Surprise, Cousin! It’s good to see you, Harry.”

“Oh, I see. Have a new favourite cousin, do you?” Draco asks with faux bitterness.

“Yeah, Dora will be so mad she’s been usurped,” Jamie replies, as though Tonks had been the old favourite and not Draco.

“Oi!” Draco complains. Benni laughs at him. “Double oi!”

“Don’t worry, Dragon, you can be my favourite cousin,” He tells Draco who nods, poking his tongue out at Harry and Hermione, both of whom roll their eyes in an identical fashion.

“Little Benni?” Jamie asks, eyes wide in shock. It’s a look copied by everyone as who exactly spoke sinks in.

Benni flushes slightly before smiling at his sister, “Hi Jamie.” Jamie has tears in her eyes as she hugs her brother close.

“C’mon, we better get over to the table, before they start _actually_ snogging,” Blaise suggests.

The group starts heading over as Jamie turns to her youngest brother, “So when did this talking start?”

“Ten minutes ago,” Benni replies, “I…lost my temper at someone and the words just…came out. Throat’s getting sore though.”

“Disuse,” Hermione tells him, “Get a soothing milky drink of some kind and make sure you keep a drink by your bed tonight. Have a sip any time you wake up or you’ll be in a lot of pain in the morning. Aunt Mary’s having the same problem right now.”

“Who did you lose your temper at?” Blaise asks his brother.

Benni flushes again, scratching the back of his head awkwardly as they reach the table. “You know – err – thinking back it – um – _may_ have – sort of – err…been Dumbledore.”

“Benoit?” Remus asks, seeming as shocked as the others had mere moments ago.

“Bonjour Perè,” Benni greets, “And hi, Uncle Padfoot.”

“Man, you are _really_ French,” Harry states. Everyone looks at him like he’s an idiot. “What? Jam hardly has an accent and Blaise doesn’t have one at all, why would I be expecting a strong one from their brother?”

While everyone else concedes to his point and Blaise smiles happily at being included in that, Jamie’s eyes fill with tears. “W-What did you just call me?”

Harry looks at her in confusion before he realises what he said, “Oh, Jam. Sorry, I don’t know why I did that. It’s just been on my mind since Sirius’ trial.”

“Didn’t I used to call you that when I was a kid?” Draco asks.

“You’re still a kid,” Severus tells him. Draco rolls his eyes so Severus cuffs him over the back of his head.

“Yes, you did,” Jamie answers, “You, and Harry, and Neville, and the tw-” Jamie stops speaking as she looks at Benni whose gaze hardens. “What did Dumbledore do?” She asks instead, taking a seat and jogging everyone else into doing the same.

“Was a twat,” Benni replies.

Remus chokes on his drink, “Benoit! Where did you even learn that word?”

“ _Really_?” Benni asks incredulously, “I’m pretty sure that’s your _pet name_ for Uncle Padfoot.”

“I’m not appreciating that tone of voice, Benoit.”

“Would you prefer I sign my sarcasm instead?” Benni asks irately.

“Benoit Lunaire Lupin, _do not_ speak to your Father that way,” Severus snaps at his son. Benoit crosses his arms, slumps in his seat, and sulks. Severus and Remus have a silent conversation for a moment that ends in Severus narrowing his eyes at his ex-husband who seems amused as he takes another sip of his drink. “Unbelievable,” Severus mutters, “‘Lead by example’ he says. Honestly.”

“So, never did get an answer to what the Headmaster did,” Harry awkwardly puts in.

“You really and truly cannot handle having a question and not asking it,” Draco says suddenly.

“Are you still on about the holidays? Just because you were raised to keep your mouth shut and accept everything fed to you on your bloody silver spoon does not negate the fact that some of us are only alive right now because of my tendency to obsessively question things.”

“Be that as it may, it will get you killed one day,” Draco tells him. Harry huffs and rolls his eyes.

“He tried to tell me things in the school are under control,” Benni says after a few moments of tense silence. “Under control, as if Dannie wasn’t important, didn’t matter. He’s an arrogant berk and I’d had enough of it. May have taken it a tad too far, but he started it.”

“What did you do?” Remus asks him suspiciously. Benoit just glares at him.

“Benni,” Severus says warningly.

Benni rolls his eyes, “I implied that I hoped Inimicus kills him.”

Silence falls around the table again.

“When you say _implied_ …?” Lucius questions.

“I told him I hope Inimicus kills him like he killed my best friend.”

Remus smirks. Danielle had told him while he was there that she’d told Benni the truth, so he knows exactly why Benni said it like that. Remus tries and fails to hide his smirk in his glass.

“Remus, are you kidding me, right now?” Severus asks him, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

“What?”

“I know you don’t like him but don’t sit there encouraging our son to threaten one of the most powerful people in the world.” Harry goes to protest that point but Draco grabs his arm under the table and digs his nails in. Harry hisses out a pained breath but, thankfully, says nothing.

Remus looks challengingly at Severus for a moment, maintaining eye contact as he says, “Neville, how’s your toad doing?”

Severus glares at Remus, “May I speak with you out _side_ for a moment, _please_?”

The two walk out the door, unfortunately visible through the window as they quite clearly start arguing rather viciously.

Blaise sighs, “You know, I sort of figured all the fighting would stop after they got divorced.”

Jamie snorts derisively, “Those two? Not fighting? Damn, it’s been so long I forgot they were capable of that!” She says in mock surprise.

“It’s been two and a half years, Jamie. No need to exaggerate things,” Benoit tells her.

“Yeah, Benni, Jaim and I tried to shelter you from a lot of it,” Blaise admits.

“I am perfectly capable of hearing them shout from my bedroom, thank you very much. Nor did that slap go unnoticed by me. But as for fighting like I heard about building up while Perè was teaching here…it was not this bad before,” Benni says, looking unimpressed at being treated like a child, as most eleven-year-olds do.

“…slap?” Lucius asks coolly. The three siblings exchange nervous glances.

“I-It wasn’t exactly what that made it sound like,” Blaise tells the others.

“It was Rin’s bloody fault,” Benoit mutters darkly, keeping an eye on the argument outside.

“Are you trying to tell me that, after being viciously attacked in their own home by someone they loved dearly, one of them _slapped_ the other?” Lucius asks incredulously.

“He was trying to help! It got his point across,” Jamie defends.

“Whose point?”

“We aren’t going to tell you that,” Blaise tells him, the other two nodding along.

Benoit’s eyes suddenly widen at the argument going on outside.

“Erm, guys?” Neville asks quietly, nodding to the window where they see Severus looking as though _he_ had just been slapped, and Remus seeming horrified about something. He then appears to attempt to apologise but Severus shakes his head and walks inside and back over to the table. 

“I have some work I need to do back at the school, I’ll see you all later,” He states briskly before turning and storming off past Remus who still stands outside in the snow.

“So, that may have been worse than ever before…” Blaise says in concern.

Remus walks in, looking some mix between sheepish and pissed off.

Benoit stands up, looking at him angrily. “How _dare_ you?”

“Benni, how many times do you have to be told not to lip read private conversations? It’s rude and –”

“You want to talk to _me_ about rudeness?” Benoit asks, looking angrier than anyone has ever seen him. “My Papa has stayed by you through every panic attack, every hospitilisation, every drunken night spent hugging a toilet bowl, every full moon, every PTSD hang-up, every magical mishap. How dare you act like he does not care about us?!” Benoit shakes his head in disgust at his Perè. “I may have my voice back, but don’t think for a moment that I’ll be talking to you. Not until you take that back.” With that, Benni storms off after his father.

Remus takes a deep breath, sitting back in his seat and rubbing at his forehead. “No Fred and George, Jamie?” Remus asks, side-stepping any impending questions. Or, at least, trying to.

“Seriously?” Jamie asks, “That’s what you’re going with?”

“Jamie,” Remus says in a pained voice that clearly conveys how much he _does not_ wish to talk about this.

“You know, it’s this sort of avoidance of things that ended your marriage to begin with.”

“I’m not the one who committed the absolute worst betrayal of trust imaginable,” Remus snaps.

“Aren’t you?!” Jamie snaps right back. At the confused look that garners, Jamie scoffs. “Benni isn’t the only one who can read lips, _Dad_.” Remus sighs as Jamie walks out of the pub as well, Blaise frowning at Remus before following after his sister.

Remus drops his head back for a moment before he downs the rest of his drink, hands shaking slightly.

“Told you,” Harry says, looking at his sister, “Absolute trainwreck.”

“…okay but really, who slapped whom?” Lucius asks Remus who looks rather dead inside.

“In his defence, it was the only way I was going to snap out of my self-hating, guilt-ridden, spiral of despair,” He replies.

“So Sev decided to _slap_ you?” Sirius asks, “The one who _literally_ went through nine months of an abusive relationship.”

“Can we not rehash every horrible moment of my life, please?” Remus requests, getting up and going to the bar where he gets a very large drink, drinks it all in one go, and then gets another.

“Yes, _that’s_ going to help things,” Sirius drawls.

“I’m not having this conversation right now, Sirius.”

“You’ve been saying that since I got back from Azkaban,” Sirius point out dryly, “The _first_ time.”

“Perhaps we should just do this another time,” Lucius tentatively suggests.

“Or never,” Remus mutters, taking a large gulp of his drink. Sirius shakes his head at him.

“Yeah, we’ll see you later,” Harry says, grabbing Hermione’s arm and leading her out of the pub, the others following after him.

Remus watches them go before he downs the rest of his drink.

Severus goes directly to his office when he reaches the school, stopping for a moment before he picks up a recently cleaned cauldron and hurls it across the room.

“Severus? What is the meaning of this?” Severus turns to see Minerva in the doorway and…breaks. He drops to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Minerva quickly charms the door shut before kneeling down on the floor beside him and putting her arms around him. “What happened?” She asks when he finally settles a bit.

“R-Re and I had a f-fight,” Severus says, still sobbing lightly.

“What about?” Minerva asks, not intending to pry but unsure what on Earth could have rendered her colleague and friend to this.

_Severus leads Remus out the front of the pub. “You’re still going on about the toad? I’ve worked hard to earn Neville’s trust after that, Remus. The last thing he needs is you bringing it up in front of him.”_

_“You mean the last thing_ you _need, right? After all, what’s everyone else in the world when it comes to Severus Snape. He who knows all, controls all, fuck everyone else around the place.”_

_“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Severus demands angrily._

_“It means you betrayed my trust, Severus.”_

_“I know, and I’m sorry that I told everyone about your condition. I_ know _that –”_

 _“I don’t mean then!” Remus snaps, “We had an agreement when Jamie started at Hogwarts, against my better judgment I might add. First sign of trouble, first time Dumbledore does_ anything _to put his students in danger, we pull her out.”_

_“What’s your point?” Severus asks._

_“You spent a year, well aware of the fact that the Philosophers’ Stone was sat in the lower layers of that castle. Aware of who was coming after it, aware that one of her Professors was involved. You literally told me you were doing something to do with him, so don’t play dumb. You have no regard for the children’s safety, you never have.”_

_“Remus! That’s not true and you_ know _it! I couldn’t tell you. Dumbledore –”_

_“DUMBLEDORE ISN’T HER FATHER! HE DOESN’T GET TO DECIDE WHAT’S SAFE AND WHAT’S NOT FOR MY DAUGHTER!”_

_“_ YOUR _DAUGHTER?!” Severus shouts angrily._

 _“YES,_ MY _DAUGHTER, BECAUSE WITH HOW LITTLE YOU APPARENTLY CARE ABOUT LOOKING AFTER HER, I’D HAVE BEEN BETTER OFF RAISING JAMIE ON MY OWN!”_

Severus explains all this to Minerva, grappling to regain control of himself.

“Bloody fucking _hell_ ,” A voice says. Severus and Minerva look over to see Sirius standing in front of the floo and wonder how they didn’t hear him come through it. “Severus, I’m sorry. I-It was my fault. He and I had been arguing all morning about his drinking affecting all the kids and me remaining in Azkaban as long as I did and running off to begin with. I got him worked up on the subject. I’m sorry.”

Severus shakes his head, “If I took better care of my children, he wouldn’t have had anything to throw in my face.”

Minerva sighs, “Do you know why I became a teacher, Severus?” Severus and Sirius look to Minerva in confusion as Severus shakes his head. “I had a child, a Son, Dougal. He was named after his Father, a farmer on the island. Both of them died when my Island was engulfed, first in flames and then by sea. No one survived.” Minerva looks at her hands, sighing to herself. “I’d been here, at the request of Dumbledore. He offered me a job, I declined but, after the travesty, Dumbledore convinced me to reconsider. I became a teacher because I wanted to help shape students as they grow up, in a way that I can never do for my son. Believe me, I know it is hard sometimes, but you are not to blame for everything that happens to your children. It is often hard to remember, but I could not have prevented what happened. You protect your children as much as you can in a world you cannot control.”

Severus nods. They are all silent for a few moments before he turns to Sirius, “Why are you here?”

“Your argument with Remus and his subsequent binge drink, which is still happening by the way so I can’t stay long, it reminded me of something Remus said this morning. I, for once _actually_ being calm, suggested that perhaps Remus should see a therapist. He refused, refused to tell me why as well. Only said that if I wanted to know, I should ask you.”

Severus’ eyes widen, “Shit.” He gets up quickly, brushing himself off.

“What? What is it?”

“He pushed me away on purpose. He’s spiralling again.”

“How do you know?”

“Because the reason he won’t go to therapy…I convinced him, shortly after th-…shortly after Benni arrived, to go see someone. He went for a while, trusted her, opened up, seemed to be improving. Then she found out he was a Werewolf and said he was right to want to die. Said he’s a monster and tried to convince him to kill himself.”

Sirius’ eyes all but bulge out of his head before he jumps in the floo and goes back to Grimmauld Place.

“I’ll cancel your classes this afternoon, go,” Minerva tells him. 

And Severus wants to, by _God_ does he want to, but he shakes his head. “If Sirius can’t deal with it, he’ll get me. But Remus doesn’t need me to tell him he deserves to live. He needs Sirius to convince him to tell himself. I could never do that.”

Minerva strokes a hand on his back comfortingly. “You still love him, don’t you?”

Severus sighs, “I don’t think I’ll ever stop.”

Much like his cousin had a mere two hours earlier, Harry walks the corridors of Hogwarts heading to the Headmaster’s office. Unaware that the already desperate man had just been pushed over the edge.

“You wanted to see me, Sir?” Harry asks as he walks in.

“Ah, yes, do take a seat, Harry.” Harry cautiously walks forward and sits in the offered seat. “There’s something I need to do, Harry. For the war. You understand?” Dumbledore asks.

 _No_. “Of course, Sir,” Harry replies despite his immediate thought.

Dumbledore nods gravely, “Then perhaps, one day, when this is all over, you’ll find it in yourself to forgive me,” He says. Harry tenses. “Far more than I will ever forgive myself.”

“Sir?”

Dumbledore spins his wand in a tight, anti-clockwise circle while pointing it at Harry whose eyes widen. He tries to run out of the way. “Moribus ostendo sum!” Dumbledore casts. Harry isn’t quick enough.

A solid beam of white light hits him, knocking him to the ground.

“Harry?” Dumbledore asks cautiously as the boy in question blinks awake, shaking his head to clear it.

“Y-Yes, Sir?” Harry asks.

“Do you trust me?”

Harry gives the Headmaster a genuine smile. “Of course, Sir. I trust you more than anyone.”


	27. Mad World

Chapter 26 – Mad World

Note: Chapter Title from Gary Jules’ song ‘Mad World’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_A solid beam of white light hits him, knocking him to the ground._

_“Harry?” Dumbledore asks cautiously as the boy in question blinks awake, shaking his head to clear it._

_“Y-Yes, Sir?” Harry asks._

_“Do you trust me?”_

_Harry gives the Headmaster a genuine smile. “Of course, Sir. I trust you more than anyone.”_

Now,

Sirius returns to Grimmauld Place to find Remus still at the kitchen table and drinking heavily, Moody and Mary with him. He sighs, taking a seat beside the man he loves. “Remus…”

“I don’ wanna be like this,” Remus whispers, “I dunno how else t’be an’more.”

“I think it might help to be able to think straight for more than 5% of the day,” Sirius replies gently.

“I canno’ go ta therapy, Pa’fu,” Remus tells him.

Sirius nods, “I know, I spoke to Severus. He seems to think that you said what you said in an effort to push him away. Given your history, Remus,…I have to ask. Are you…having thoughts of suicide?”

Remus flinches slightly at the words, he drops his head to the table as the other three occupants of the room listen intently. “No, no’reallae. I jus’…I don’ wanna kill miself, Pa’foo. I just don’t wanna be here anymore. I don’t wan’ta feel like this.”

“Like what?” Sirius questions patiently.

“Everyfin hurts,” Remus whispers, “All of the time. ‘n’ it shouldn’, coz I got all of yous, but it won’ stop hurdin.” Remus screws his eyes shut, covering them by pushing his head into his arm on the table. “I deserve it though.”

“No, Remus, no,” Sirius tells him, pushing a hand through his partner’s hair lightly.

“You don’know what I did…” Remus replies in a tortured voice, “I jus’ wan’ed th’pain to stop. I didn’ wanna do it, I didn’ wan’ta hurt’im,” Remus says, suddenly sobbing heavily. “M’sorry, m’so sorry.”

Sirius quickly wraps Remus up in his arms, trying to comfort him as he locks eyes with Moody, both of them thinking the same thing.

The truth about Remus’ time as a PoW may finally be coming out.

“Are you all right, Harry?” Hermione asks her brother the next day.

Harry lifts his head and gives her a filthy look, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Ron raises an eyebrow at him, sharing a look with Hermione and Ginny. He clears his throat, “Well, you glared daggers at Justin when he tried to talk to you during breakfast, you picked a fight with Malfoy, and you’re looking at me like I’m something on the bottom of your bloody shoe.”

Harry’s eyes narrow at him, “Like I’d listen to a blood traitor like _you_ ,” Harry spits.

“HARRISON! WHAT THE SHIT!” Hermione screams at her brother, gathering the attention of the Great Hall who had previously not been listening to their conversation.

“What? You think you’re any better?” Harry asks, a cruel smirk on his face, “Muggle Raised, still a wizard. Shunned here, shunned there, tell me. Do you actually fit in anywhere?” Hermione blinks at Harry, tears in her eyes. Harry nods, “Thought not, it’s probably why no family ever wanted to keep you.” Then he stalks off out of the room.

“…What…the…fuck,” Ginny asks.

From the Teachers’ table, Severus, Lucius, and Minerva exchange stunned looks in the silence of the Hall. But one man doesn’t look so stunned.

The ever-present twinkle in his eyes grows brighter still.

“Hey, erm, Harry?” Benoit says quietly as he changes direction in the hallway to walk beside his cousin.

Harry scowls at the younger boy, “What do you want, Little Benni?”

Benoit seems taken aback by the harsh attitude, having skipped dinner in the Great Hall and instead been in the library researching things and so missed Harry’s blow up. “Well, I just wanted to get your advice on something.”

“Why me?” Harry asks with a raised eyebrow, “Don’t you have an older sister you can write to?”

“ _Yes_ , but she’s not here, you are, and you’re my cousin so I just thou-”

“I’m not your cousin, Lupin. We aren’t related. Our parents are living some dream life where things like friendships and shit matter but they don’t. Blood runs thicker than water and you are not mine,” Harry tells the boy harshly.

“HEY!” Benni and Harry turn to see Theo Knott and Draco stalking towards them. “Leave him the _hell_ alone,” Theo demands. Harry sneers at him before Draco physically steps between them.

“Theo, take Benni and go find Blaise. I’ll deal with this,” Draco orders, feeling rather unused to the old usual of people following what he says after so long of following the maniac before him.

Theo takes the frightened and hurt Benni away from the scene as Draco and Harry glare at each other.

“What the fuck, Mate?! You don’t ever dare speak to him like that again. Or anyone, for that matter.”

“Suddenly grown a conscience, have you?” Harry asks, “Tell me. How did that family feel about you when you were screaming the word Mudblood at Hermione every five seconds? You may be her brother now but don’t think she’s forgotten. It wasn’t so long ago that she was jonesing for another chance to punch you.”

Draco looks at him in bewilderment, “Harry, please, tell me what’s going on. Me and the others, we’re relying on you. We can’t do any of it without you,” He tells Harry pleadingly, a word he never would have expected to describe a Malfoy.

“Any of it? Dray that whole ‘movement’ thing is over. We were wrong to try. Dumbledore isn’t the bad guy here, he is a great man trying to save people from evil,” Harry explains, “We’re going to take down the Dark Wizards, Draco. All of them. And when you grow up to be exactly like your psycho Death Eater of a father, you’ll go down too. _Malfoy_.”

“Big talk coming from the Son of the Dark Lord himself,” Draco spits at him.

“Mum and Dad kept me from him for a reason. I was wrong to ever go against what they wanted. They know what’s best for me, they always have. So has Dumbledore.”

Draco and Harry continue having a stand-off until they hear someone clear their throat. The two look up to see Lucius standing near them. “Is there a problem, boys?” He asks with an elegant eyebrow raise.

“Of course not, Professor,” Harry replies, “Just an old rivalry that won’t ever die.” With that, Harry turns on his heel and leaves.

“Dra-” Lucius begins, but when he turns to look, his son is stalking off in the other direction.

“Something’s wrong,” Hermione announces as she stalks into the converted meeting room in the Graveyard that night, the others already there seated around the table.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Blaise scoffs, nodding to Draco who glares moodily at the table.

“Someone’s messed with him, they have to have. Harry would never act like this, not to us and not to you,” Pansy reminds them all.

As they all nod, Ron is suddenly struck by a realisation. These Slytherins they once despised and whom previously despised them, trust Harry so much that they do not consider the fact that he has willingly turned against them.

“He had a meeting with the Headmaster earlier today. Perhaps that has something to do with it,” Luna offers.

“So what, we think Dumbledore did something to Harry?” Ron asks.

“Well in what world would he ever talk to Little Benni like he did?” Blaise challenges, Ron concedes to that point.

“Hey, haven’t heard Benoit speak since…well not for a long time. That’s something, right?” Pansy asks.

Blaise nods, “Yeah. Hopefully it’ll last. Do him some good to make more friends after, well, we sort of killed the last one,” He adds with a wince.

“Forget all this,” Draco suddenly snaps, “Something is wrong with Harry and we _need_ to fix it!”

“And we will,” Pansy tells him, “But right now, we don’t know anything. We need help.” Pansy looks around, ensuring she has everyone’s attention. “I think we should go to Severus.”

Draco looks at her in concern, “He’d find out about Harry.”

“I think that’s a risk we need to take. _Before_ Harry tells Dumbledore everything he wants to know,” Pansy pushes.

“Harry would never do that!” Draco reprimands sharply, “This entire thing is _his_ vision, _his_ dream. He won’t do anything to jeopardise that.”

“No one here is doubting Riddle,” Blaise reassures his friend, “But he’s not himself right now. We don’t know what’s wrong, or how to fix it, and with Black now alive and Re with him, Sev is our best…our _only_ , option here.” Draco fidgets for a moment before he nods.

“If we tell him, he will immediately put together that the rest of us are involved,” Luna points out.

Neville shrugs, “Anyone who isn’t willing to be found out should not have gotten involved to begin with,” He says. Everyone looks to him in surprise. “Well it was always a risk, wasn’t it?” The group all nod slowly.

“So, we tell him?” Hermione asks her brother. 

Draco thinks it over for another minute, trying to think more rationally. Then he nods, “Harry already said this is all over, that he’s fighting for Dumbledore now,” Draco informs them, then nods again, “We tell him.”

“Professor, we need to talk, now,” Ron tells Severus, having walked to the Potions office and finding Snape grading something or other.

“Oh?” Severus asks, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

“It’s about… _him_.”

Severus’ eyebrow drops, “Oh.” He quickly charms the door shut and puts a silencing charm up around the room. “Talk.”

“Inimicus has been compromised, we have reason to believe that Dumbledore did something to him. Don’t know what exactly, but if we don’t get him back then the entire cause falls. Now, we don’t know for sure if Dumbledore even knows that Inimicus _is_ Inimicus. We think it’s more likely that he just wanted him back under his thumb.”

Severus looks bewildered, “Under his thumb? Weasley, how do you expect me to help when you give me no information?”

“You want information? One minute, Inimicus is his usual self, planning the Headmaster’s demise and backing his Reapers up. The next, he’s a fucking twat and worshipping at Dumbledore’s feet. Like his entire personality was –”

“Reversed,” Severus cuts in. Ron nods. Then Severus remembers the spectacle from dinner and what Benni and Lucius had told him about their interaction with Harry…and it clicks. “Dumbledore cast the moral reversal spell on Harry, who is also Inimicus.”

“Guess Pansy owes Blaise money. She didn’t think you’d work it out until you came to the Graveyard,” Ron tells him, unsurprised that his Teacher put it all together so quickly.

“The Graveyard?” Severus asks, instantly thinking of being bitten by those re-animated corpses.

“It’s what we call our meeting place. There’s a huge rotting corpse, it’s a long story.” Severus blinks at him for a moment. Ron just moves on, “What’s the Moral Reversal spell? Beyond the obvious.”

Severus sighs, “That’s pretty much all it is though. It reverses the morals of the target, complete 180. Casting it on them again shatters their mind.”

“Sounds like what happened to Bellatrix Black.”

“It’s exactly what happened to Bella.”

“So,” Ron begins, obviously thinking hard. “If casting it again won’t undo it, how do we fix him?”

“Ron…there is no cure.”

“There has to be.”

“There isn’t.”

Ron leans on Severus’ desk threateningly. “Then _make_ one. Because if Dumbledore gets the truth out of Harry, we _all_ go down. You included.”

“I’ve tried!” Severus snaps, “One of my oldest and closest friends was sent batshit _insane_ because of that spell and it was ALL MY FAULT!” He shouts, “ _Of course_ I’ve tried, I’ve tried everything I could think of. There is. no. cure.”

Ron watches him for a minute before he stands up again. “Come with me. Amans will want to see you.”

“Who the hell is that?”

“Inimicus’ second.”

Ron walks out, Severus hesitates for a moment before going after him.

“So, I suppose I can assume Mio is involved with this as well,” Severus says quietly as Ron leads him through the empty halls of Hogwarts.

“If you like,” Ron replies.

They walk the rest of the way in silence until they come to the boys’ bathroom with the entrance to the chamber. 

“ _Open_ ,” Ron commands in carefully practiced Parseltongue. The sink opens up revealing a giant hole in the floor.

Severus looks at it and sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Let me guess, we’re jumping down there.”

Ron smirks at him before stepping over the edge and immediately dropping soundlessly. Severus hesitates for one moment before he remembers something from years ago. He smiles softly and whispers, “God-father duties.” Then he jumps.

A while of walking through rat skeletons later, Ron opens a snake decorated seal and steps through into a giant cavern. 

It clicks to Severus exactly where he is, “The Chamber of Secrets?” He asks. Ron nods, though really the question may as well have been rhetorical.

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!”

Severus looks over to some tunnels in alarm, then back to Ron who sighs, but it is not him who explains.

“We had to confine him before he gave anything away,” A man dressed in a black cloak with a white square mask, red triangles for eyes.

“Tutamen, how’s things here?” Ron asks, frowning in concern.

Tutamen sighs, shaking his head, “Still shouting that Dumbledore will stop us and save everyone while also going on about blood purity and shit.”

Severus blinks, reverse really does mean everything reversed, even if those things don’t make sense together. But more than that, Severus frowns, because he would recognise that voice anywhere. “Blaise?”

Blaise pulls his mask off and smiles grimly, “Hi, Sev.” He looks between the two, “So, what’s the situation?”

“Some moral reversal spell,” Ron explains, nodding for Severus to say more.

“It’s a spell that James Potter and I created, a long time ago. It’s had disastrous consequences ever since. As I told Weasley, there’s no way to undo it.”

“You also said that that’s what happened to Bellatrix Black, right?” Ron asks, Severus nods. “Well that proves it then. She was on our side when she died, it _had_ to have been reversed – unreversed, whatever – or she would still be fighting for them.”

Severus looks at him, eyes wide. “There’s a cure.”

_“It doesn’t have to hurt, Remy. It could all go away._ You _can make it go away.”_

Remus jerks upright in bed, gasping, unable to breath. He’d fallen asleep as soon as he transformed back into his human form, usually those sleeps are far too deep and exhausted for dreams. Sirius must have tucked him into bed. He feels a hand on his shoulder, comforting him, and leans into it. A soft kiss is pressed to his head and Remus freezes. He smells perfume, feels the softer body against his. It isn’t Sirius beside him.

“It’s all right, Remy,” Bellatrix says to him gently. Remus trembles with fear from his nightmare, even knowing he must still be dreaming. But somehow, still, he feels safe here with this Trixie, _his_ Trixie. “Tell me, Remus. What happened? What did I do to you?”

“You don’t know?” He asks, voice hoarse. He assumes from screaming in his nightmare and wonders if, when he wakes properly, his voice will sound that way.

“I don’t remember anything I did after the Moral Reversal Spell was cast until I came back to myself,” Trixie explains. She leans her head against his shoulder, “Please, Remy. Talk to me, what did I do?”

Remus takes a deep shuddering breath, “It wasn’t what you did, Trix. It was what I did. You gave me a choice and I…” Remus turns suddenly, burying his face in Bellatrix’s shoulder. Bellatrix calmly strokes her hand through his hair as he sobs. “I didn’t want to hurt him!” He says, rather frantically.

Bellatrix waits for him to calm a bit before she pulls him back and looks him in the eye, a soft smile on her face and a gentle hand cupping his cheek. “I didn’t want to make the world think I was crazy when I was a kid. Sometimes we are put into impossible situations and we do what we must to survive. That doesn’t make you a bad person, Remus. It just proves what we’ve been saying all along. Werewolf or no, you’re still human.”

Remus feels tears streaming down his face as he leans forward to rest his forehead against hers. He feels the dream losing substance and holds back another sob, “I miss you, Trixie.”

“I’m gone, Remy. But there are people still with you, and they can help, if you’ll let them.”

When Remus opens his eyes, it is not Bellatrix he sees, but Sirius.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sirius asks when he sees Remus has woken up. 

Remus takes stock of their position, Sirius sitting against the head of the bed and Remus with his head in his lap, holding on to his legs like they are the only things keeping him from being sucked into a blackhole. “I-It started about those ten months,” Remus whispers, still shaking. Sirius runs a soothing hand through his hair, much like Dream-Trixie had done mere minutes before. “Then it changed into another dream about Bellatrix,” He explains. Remus takes a deep, fortifying breath, “She thinks I should tell you what happened.”

Sirius raises an eyebrow, though Remus is not looking at him to see it. “Do _you_ think you should tell me?” Remus frowns, biting his lip. He curls into Sirius’ lap more, but nods. “I’m here to listen, Moons. I always have been.”

Remus nods again, “I know.” He clears his throat, “I don’t know how long I had been there already, but…” Remus trails off, a lump in his throat that seems to be blocking all air to his lungs. Sirius strokes his hand down his back soothingly, seeming to be bringing air down everywhere his hand went. Remus takes a deep breath, “They’d given up trying to get me to talk, they knew now that I wouldn’t. So, Voldemort started making it a reward. Do good work and they could torture me however they like.” Remus shudders again at the memories, tears in his eyes that wipe onto Sirius’ pyjama pants as he turns his head. A moment later he turns back again to keep talking, never turning his head enough to actually look at Sirius. “Then one day, Voldemort and T-Tri-” Remus cuts himself off.

Sirius strokes the hair out of his face, “I know who you mean,” He says gently.

Remus lets out a shaky breath, nodding in relief before he continues, “They came in and he offered me a deal. If I got one of their prisoners to talk, they’d stop hurting me.” Sirius remembers what Remus said the one and only time he’s ever even almost talked about what happened and suddenly sees where this is going. “I-I just wanted to stop hurting,” Remus tells him, crying in earnest now, “Just for a bit, I knew they wouldn’t hold up their end so I…I dragged it out as much as I could. As long as I was hurting him, they weren’t hurting me.” Remus breaks down sobbing, “I-I did-didn’t want to hurt him, Pads. I-I just wanted the p-pain to st-stop.”

Sirius pulls him upright, wrapping him into a tight hug that Remus snuggles into as he breaks apart. “I’m glad you did, Remus.”

“W-What?” Remus asks in shock, moving his head back just enough to meet his eye.

“I’m glad you took that offer. If they wanted information out of that man, you more than anyone know that they would never give up. At least that way, one of you got a chance at some rest from it. Call me selfish, but I like any scenario that you aren’t being hurt in far more than one in which you are.”

Remus holds his gaze for a moment, tears streaming down his cheeks though he hardly feels it over his shock. Then a small smile, more of relief than happiness, spreads onto his face. “Y-You don’t hate me?”

“Remus, I’d have taken that offer, probably a lot sooner than you did,” Sirius tells him, “I don’t hate you for wanting to not be in pain.” Remus buries himself back into Sirius’ chest and decides that, until he absolutely _has_ to, he’s not moving from this safe and warm and loving embrace.

Severus stands in the Chamber of Secrets, or ‘the Graveyard’ as the kids call it, pinching the bridge of his nose. He’s no idea what to do or how to save his God-Son, but clearly there _is_ a way, or Bellatrix would have been insane until the day she died. _Of course, Bella had the spell cast on her twice and her mind broken, who’s to say whatever healed that could even counter the spell as it should have been,_ he thinks to himself as he shuts his eyes in annoyance.

“So how did you work it out?” Severus’ eyes open in shock at hearing Harry speak. He walks into the meeting room and sees all of the ‘reapers’ and himself sitting around the table. He grows interested in the scene, recognising it as a vision and hoping this will somehow give him the answer he needs.

Vision-Severus smirks, “I had a vision. Of this conversation actually.” 

Severus looks at his vision-self in surprise, “It works like that?” He asks quietly, knowing none of them can hear him.

“Trippy,” Hermione comments, “We’re being watched by past Uncle Sev.”

“So, this is when you first heard the riddle? Well, not when, exactly…” Blaise frowns, trying to grapple some sane understanding of this insane situation.

“What riddle?” Harry asks. Severus raises an eyebrow, wondering if his confusion is an indication that he won’t remember what happened. But nothing has happened that would indicate Bellatrix didn’t remember. Of course, no one would notice if a crazy person had seemingly forgotten what she’d been doing.

Then his vision-self begins speaking, “Reversed…reversed…broken. What happened before will happen once more while the cure waits beyond the shore. Power lost he will regain until only sad is allowed to remain.”

“…what? That’s it?” Severus questions incredulously, “How did you work anything out from that?”

“What else did your vision show you?” Pansy asks.

Vision-Severus chuckles, “Nothing actually. Well, this sentence is the last thing I heard before the Vision faded away.”

“Severus!”

Severus blinks to see Remus standing in front of him, the kids standing behind their ex-professor and looking at him with concern. “Re?”

Remus sighs, “Anything important?” He asks.

“Oh yeah. How to save Harry.” Severus winces, “Sort of. Anyone good with riddles?”

Everyone looks to Hermione who smirks, “Try me.”

Five minutes later…

“I don’t understand!” Pansy says in almost a sob as she drops her head to the table, covered in notes and drawings as they try to puzzle out the riddle.

“Give it to me again?” Hermione requests, rubbing at the bridge of her nose in frustration.

“Reversed, reversed, broken,” Severus says.

“Well that’s pretty self-explanatory,” Blaise says, Hermione nods.

“I’m getting fourth year flashbacks. You know, the singing egg?” Ron asks Hermione who seems mildly amused as she nods before turning back to Severus.

“What happened before will happen once more.”

“Again, pretty simple,” Remus comments frustratedly.

“While the cure waits beyond the shore.”

“Okay, so, not in the country,” Draco says, face in his arms on the table.

“We assume. It might be a reference to an ocean or an island or a boat…let’s table that for now,” Hermione says, nodding for Severus to continue.

“Power lost he will regain,” Severus recites, “Could be talking about Dumbledore or the Dark Lord.” 

“Dumbledore would make more sense in this scenario, wouldn’t it?” Remus poses.

“Well, in a straightforward sense, yes,” Hermione answers, “But…well there are some things that are need to know and Inimicus has not decided that you need to.”

Remus looks to Severus who shrugs. Pansy, Blaise, Neville, Ron, and Luna also look confused. “You know whatever this is?” Severus asks Draco and Ginny.

“You remember when I mentioned Amans?” Ron asks him.

Severus nods, “Inimicus’ second.” Ron gestures to Draco, Severus nods then clears his throat, “Either way I think it’s more of a warning than actual help in solving this.”

“What was the last line?” Hermione presses, no one questions why Ginny would know, obvious as it is that Harry would have told her.

“Until only sad is allowed to remain,” Severus finishes. Remus groans, getting up and pacing the length of the room. The kids all continue thinking, but Severus leans against the wall and watches Remus expectantly and happily. He always feels far more optimistic when he sees proof of Remus healing.

Suddenly he stops moving and turns around, devastation on his face.

“Uncle Moony?” Hermione asks, seeing the expression.

“I was just thinking…whatever it is had to have happened to Trixie.”

“Yes, and?” Ron pushes when he says no more.

“The cure is off the shore, only sadness can remain. Where do we know of where Bellatrix spent time, where there can be no happiness, on an island.”

Ginny looks up in alarm, “Azkaban.”

“How could Azkaban cure anything?” Luna asks, though really, it’s more of a statement of disbelief.

Neville frowns, “Hold on I read something the other day. There are some curses that deal with the mind, they are undone if the memories are taken from the current time to a time before the spell was cast. Maybe something similar happens here?”

“How do you mean?” Ginny asks him.

“Well, Uncle Sirius has some memory problems right? And it’s from the Dementors draining the happiness from him and leaving only sad.”

“Right…?” Remus confirms, unsure where his nephew is going with this.

“The spell reverses morals, what’s bad is good…and what was good is bad,” Neville explains.

“You think that the dementors took what was good which was actually bad and left what was bad but was actually good?” Draco asks him, Neville nods.

“Right, and with what was really bad gone, what was actually good was left and…what, refreshed the brain?” Remus questions.

“Like a factory reset on a laptop!” Hermione states, catching on.

“I don’t know what that is, but I think you’ve got it,” Neville replies.

“That explains why Trixie doesn’t remember much. Dementors took everything the real her considered bad and, like with Sirius, they took memories too,” Remus comments, everyone looks to him in confusion.

Severus turns to him suspiciously, “How do you know that she didn’t remember?”

“Oh, er, I don’t. I mean…it’s just a feeling,” Remus answers awkwardly, “More importantly, how are we going to replicate this on Harry? We haven’t any Dementors.”

“We wouldn’t have been exposing my brother to Dementors even if we did!” Hermione tells him strongly, aghast by the mere suggestion.

Remus’ face pales slightly when he realises what he suggested, “Right, sorry.” He swallows harshly, hands shaking mildly.

“Re?” Severus puts a hand on his arm slowly. Remus gives him a tight smile before turning back to the others.

“Do you think obliviating him would work? It’s only been two days,” Ron points out, Neville shakes his head. “Well, what then?!”

“I…have sort of an idea,” Ginny states, staring off into the distance before she takes a very measured breath. “But it’s pretty insane.”

Everyone in the room looks around at each other, nodding to unspoken questions.

“Insane is what we do here, Weaslette,” Draco tells her, “What’s the plan?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, my internet was down for a while, hence the late upload, but I did take the chance to do final edits on the next few chapters which means no more delays! (barring internet hijinks).


	28. You Just Took My Soul With You

Chapter 27 – You Just Took My Soul With You

Note: Chapter Title from Joss Whedon’s song ‘Under Your Spell’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“Insane is what we do here, Weaslette,” Draco tells her, “What’s the plan?”_

Now,

“Ginny’s right, this is _insane_ ,” Remus mutters to Severus as they walk towards the kitchen in Grimmauld place the morning after the plan was made. “Mad-Eye is going to know something’s up before we even get a word out.”

“Well he will if you keep whispering like this!” Severus shoots back before they both straighten up and attempt to enter the room normally.

“Jamie!” Remus greets in surprise when he sees her at the table along with the twins. “Geo-” Remus freezes, looking between the Weasley twins and looking very confused and disoriented. “Fre…?”

“Love?” Sirius prompts, poking his cheek as he walks over.

“I-I don’t…how did you even _do_ this? _What_ even is this?!” Remus finally snaps, though not angrily.

The twins both howl with laughter, “It worked!”

“What worked?” Sirius questions, looking to Severus and Molly, both of whom shrug.

“They’ve been trying to find a way to mess with the scents certain creatures can pick up from them that allow said creatures to distinguish between them,” Arthur explains without looking up from his paper. When his statement is met with silence, he looks up and meets Remus’ eye, “You’re the one who put them on to it a year and a half ago. This is on you.”

“Ohhhh, so for once, you have no idea which one is which?” Mary realises, laughing along with the twins when they grin.

“No, I still know that that is Fred,” Remus tells them, nodding to Fred.

“How?” Fred asks.

Remus narrows his eyes, “You smell more like my daughter.” Both Fred and said daughter blush deeply as George snickers at them.

“So! What’s going on?” Jamie asks her parents to change the subject.

Remus and Severus exchange mildly alarmed looks. “Going on? Wh-Why would something be going on?” Remus asks. Severus clenches his jaw in an attempt to hold back the eye roll.

“…I just wasn’t expecting to see you two together so soon,” Jamie replies, looking between the two suspiciously. The two look at each other and then back to their daughter in confusion.

“I believe she’s referring to the whole ‘I’d have been better off raising Jamie without you’ thing,” Sirius explains dryly.

“Oh! Right, yes, that…is a thing that happened,” Remus says with a wince.

“Right, but it’s all fine now,” Severus assures their daughter, “Well, no, Remus was a dick, but I was aware of that.”

“Aware of what?” Remus asks him sharply.

Severus rolls his eyes, “I _was_ married to you for eight years. I know what you can be like.”

“What I can _be like_? What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?” Remus demands.

“It means that you can be a bit of a dick.”

“Bit rich coming from you, don’t you think?”

“Oh _really_?”

Jamie rolls her eyes, “Oi! SHUT IT!” She shouts over them before they can start arguing in earnest. “Dick or no, take a moment and just think about your wedding day. When you saw each other as you stood in front of the altar, what was it you were thinking about? Why did you say yes?” She questions, looking to her Dad first.

Remus smiles softly, “I’m not afraid when I’m with him.”

“And you?” Jamie asks Severus whose angry look fades entirely.

He flushes and clears his throat, “I was thinking about what you told me when I explained what happened the night I joined Gaunt,” Severus tells Remus who frowns in confusion, “I was thinking that I’d finally found my way home.”

Jamie smiles as she looks between them, “You may no longer be married, and maybe you’ve hurt each other over the years, but you didn’t stay together for eight years because you hate each other. It wasn’t because of the bad that happened, it was because you had each other’s backs. You could rely on each other. _That’s_ what changed. When you really think about it, _that’s_ what ruined your marriage. You lost that. You couldn’t rely on each other anymore. Maybe you two wouldn’t fight so much if you realised that despite everything, you are still backing each other up, you are _there_ , just waiting for the moment the other needs help. You’ll always be waiting and you’ll never give up on each other.”

Remus smiles, nodding. “You’re right, Jamie. Sev, before anything else you were my friend and I trusted you. I still do.”

Severus nods back, “As do I.”

“Great, can you two just get along now, please?” Jamie requests.

Severus snickers, throwing an arm around his daughter’s shoulders. “Of course, Niecter.”

“Hey, Sev, what are you doing here, anyway?” Sirius asks in confusion as Remus sits beside him and rests his head on Sirius’ shoulder.

“Right,” Severus says, “Erm, could you kids give us a minute?”

“Are you serious?” Jamie asks incredulously.

“Even if he’s not, I am,” Sirius tells her, “Wait…Okay I genuinely didn’t mean to do that that time. Did I just mock my _self_? Oh, anyway. Jamie, if your parents don’t think you should be here even after _that_ , it’s not a maturity thing it’s a privacy thing and that should always be listened to and respected.”

Jamie bites her lip in thought for a moment, then sighs and nods, “We should probably get back to the shop,” She says, nodding to the twins who say goodbye to their parents, as does Jamie, before the three depart.

“How did you _do_ that?” Remus asks Sirius, sounding both fond, impressed, and exasperated at the same time.

“I treated her like an adult instead of a kid who can’t understand. Because she _does_ understand. A lot more than you two give her credit for,” Sirius replies.

Severus and Remus both look at each other uncertainly. “We _did_ say we’d tell her when she turned seventeen,” Severus reminds him, “She’s now eighteen.”

Remus sighs, “I know. Honestly, I’m less worried about telling her than I am how that conversation will end up and whether or not I’ll be able to deal with it.”

“I know, but she deserves to know, Remus, and if she finds out any other way she’ll never forgive us. She’ll never forgive _you_.”

Remus bites his lip, then nods slowly, “All right. Next weekend we’ll tell her.”

“So, what _are_ you here for?” Sirius asks again, not entirely sure what they are talking about but thinking it’s probably none of his business.

“We’ve been trying to find a way to bring back the memories you lost in Azkaban, but we need to know more about what they did to you, exactly. What did it feel like, taste like, did it alter dreams? We need to know everything,” Severus replies, trying to stick to the truth as much as possible.

Remus sighs, “You know, being a bit gentler might have been nice.”

“Nice wastes time.”

He rolls his eyes but turns to Sirius all the same, “Anything you can tell us will help.”

Sirius looks at them both with panicked eyes, “Right, um, well I mean, I’m not sure. Everything about that place is a little…fuzzy.”

“We just need to know as much about what Dementors actually _do_ as possible,” Severus tells him as Remus pours him some tea and puts a hand on his knee comfortingly.

“Right, yes.” Sirius clears his throat, “Well, they feed on happiness. I mean…that doesn’t even really cover it. They _eat_ it.”

“What do you mean?” Remus asks with a frown as he pours himself a drink.

Sirius meets Remus’ eyes, fear and tears clear within them, “It feels like they are tearing at your soul, like they rip it from within you with powerful, _maddening_ , teeth. You feel them chomp on it, masticating every happy moment you have ever lived and it _bleeds_ despair. You drown in the remnants of every moment you can no longer recall and there is nothing but coldness and depression and fear.” Sirius looks down at his shaking hands, whole body trembling. Then he sees a hand take his and looks up to once again lock eyes with Remus.

“We’ll make this right, Padfoot. I promise, we’ll get back what they took.”

Shaking his head slightly, Sirius smiles sadly, “I wouldn’t know what to do with it even if you did.”

“What did it feel like, when you had only your worst moments left?” Severus asks in a gentle tone after a few moments.

Sirius frowns in thought, “There is a reason that the Dementors never starve. Even if there is no fresh-meat for _years_. When there is no happiness, the soul tries to make it from the sadness. Bad memories begin looking good and, when you have nothing to lose, it is tempting to let that happen. You know the Dementors will then eat that until you have _nothing_ left to give them, but even so that moment of good seems worth it.”

“Did you ever give in to that?” Remus asks him.

He nods, “Once. I swore it would never happen again. I don’t remember why, don’t know what I lost, but as it was being sucked out of me I felt more fear at losing that than I ever have at anything. Even the bad things make us who we are and without them…we may as well ourselves be dementors.”

“Okay wait, wait,” Severus says, eyes screwing shut as he concentrates, “You said the soul tries to make the bad good, right?” Sirius nods. “And it’s a conscious decision to let that happen?”

“Yes, people with strong beliefs usually won’t, which is why Voldemort’s cronies usually stay as they are.”

“But then…” Severus looks to Remus whose eyes widen as he realises it too.

“She could not have known, could she?” Remus asks.

“Well she’d have felt it as well as Sirius.” Severus sighs, “But she didn’t have strong beliefs, not then, she was just insane. Maybe that’s why, or maybe she did let it happen knowing it would cure her. We just don’t know, Re.” Severus looks at Remus with pain on his face.

Remus holds eye contact for a moment before he downs the rest of his drink. Then he just sighs, “Thanks Sirius, you’ve been a big help.”

Severus heads back to school, but Remus remains behind.

“You doing okay? I know that can’t have been easy,” Remus says to Sirius as he wraps his arms around him.

Sirius sighs, leaning into Remus, “I feel a little frazzled but, I think I’ll be fine. Everything always seems like it’ll be fine when I have you with me.”

Remus chuckles, “Sappy bastard,” he replies as he nuzzles at Sirius’ neck. Sirius moves his head to the side to allow him more room. It’s just as Remus starts kissing Sirius’ neck, Sirius’ hand coming up to tangle in Remus’ hair, that they hear someone clearing their throat. The two jump apart to see Molly standing in the doorway and looking unimpressed.

“Oh, er, hi Molly,” Sirius greets, clearing his throat awkwardly as Remus tries to flatten his hair.

Molly rolls her eyes and leaves the room.

“So, what’s the verdict?” Ginny asks as Severus walks into the meeting room in The Graveyard that night.

Severus sighs, leaning on the back of an empty chair rather than taking a seat. “Without exposing Harry to dementors for literally _years_ , I don’t know how to fix this.”

“But you found out how they do it? How they cured Bellatrix?” Hermione asks him as the others exchange disheartened looks.

“I did, yes,” Severus replies, “Sirius was rather graphic about it all actually. Apparently it’s not necessarily what they did. They took the good memories but it was her mind, her _soul_ ’s attempt to save itself that made the bad good again. I don’t know how to recreate that.”

Neville slowly looks up from where he had been staring despondently at the table, an idea forming in his head. “Why did her mind reverse it again, what specifically triggered it? Was it only having bad or was it the lack of good?” He asks, watching Severus intently.

“He said ‘when there is no happiness, the soul tries to make it from the sadness’. So, the lack of happiness one would suppose,” Severus replies. 

“Then we don’t need to make him feel sadness like the Dementors cause, he just needs to not feel happiness. We take his memories of everything since the spell was cast and then temporarily stop him from feeling anything.”

“Why do you say that like there’s an easy way to make that happen?” Ginny questions, pinching her nose.

“Because there is,” Neville replies, “Inimicus has had me researching certain spells and I know how we can do this but…well, there’s a problem.”

“What?” Pansy asks, privately thinking that whatever it is had best not be a person because if it’s a person getting in their way of saving their leader, that person is going to regret it. Very. Quickly.

Neville grimaces, “It’s highly illegal.”

“What spell?” Draco pushes impatiently.

“…The Imperius Curse.”

Severus looks at them all and smirks. “I wouldn’t worry about the law on that very much.”

Blaise blinks at him for a moment. “You must understand how concerning that statement is, yes?” Blaise asks Severus.

He chuckles and nods, “I do. Remus can use the…power of the Imperius curse, I guess, but without actually casting the spell.”

Neville looks at him in shock, “Erm, by chance, is he immune to it?” Severus nods slowly. “And do his eyes glow?”

“They glow yellow, yes.”

“Of course, colour of the spell,” Neville mutters to himself before speaking to Severus once more, “As do the eyes of the person being cursed?”

“How do you know all this?”

Neville furrows his brows and shakes his head, “Lucky guess.” 

“Let’s just save Harry and deal with whatever this is later, okay?” Pansy requests when Severus opens his mouth to push Neville further about this.

“Fine.” He pulls his phone out and calls Remus, expecting he’ll still be awake despite it being 3am.

“Hey Sev, wasssup?” Remus drawls.

Severus sighs, “I don’t know why I’m surprised anymore,” He mutters, “Are you able to apparate right now?”

“Ap’rate? ‘Course I can.” Severus hears a protest in the background and then, “N- Padfoot give’t back!”

“No, he cannot apparate!” Sirius’ voice comes sternly down the line though muffled and quiet.

“Pads, phone’ssupside down.”

“Oh, er, like this?” Sirius asks, voice now coming through properly.

“Sirius, can you get him sobered up?” Severus asks without preamble.

Sirius snorts, “Not bloody likely. When’s the last time Remus Lupin willingly took a sober up potion? In fact, has he ever?”

“Well one of his sons needs him, so sober him the fuck up and tell him to meet me here before the situation with Blaise gets any worse! He’ll know where.” Severus then hangs up the phone and clears his throat, “Sorry for using you, had to be something he’d take the potion for without hinting at what’s going on,” He explains.

Blaise looks at him shyly, “You think he’d do that for me?”

Severus throws an arm over his shoulders and smiles, “You’re about to have your proof.”

A few minutes later, Remus walks into The Graveyard from the direction of the forest entrance, rubbing at his forehead.

“Really should have taken a hangover cure too,” He mutters. Blaise walks over and hugs him tightly. “Hey, you okay? What’s going on?”

“I love you, Re.”

Remus pulls away from him to look at him in concern as he replies earnestly, “I love you too, Blaise.”

“I didn’t call you here because of him. We know how to fix Harry, but we need your help,” Severus tells him. Remus looks at him, raising a questioning eyebrow. “We’re going to take away his memories of everything since the spell, we need you to stop him feeling emotions.”

“How the hell am I meant to do that?”

“Imperio him.”

Hermione frowns, “It might not work,” She says hesitantly, “The spell I mean.”

“It will,” Neville tells her, “Just like the Cruciatus Curse works on him.”

“Right, yeah.”

“Am I supposed to understand what is happening right now?” Remus questions.

“No,” Draco tells him as he walks over and stands right in front of him, “You aren’t supposed to, and you aren’t supposed to care two shits because the only thing that matters right now is fixing Harry. So stop _questioning_ everything and _save him_.” Draco’s eyes water, he blinks rapidly to clear it but it doesn’t work, “Please.”

Remus holds his gaze for a moment, “Six years and he’s still as in your head as the day he first…how was it you put it? Befuddled you?”

Draco lets out a wet chuckle, “Oh he still befuddles me, and he’s a lot more in my head than before, but at least my head is still my own.”

Remus nods, “Let’s do this.”

“Wait,” Severus says, a frown on his face, “We need to get rid of a certain amount of memory. I think we’ve a better option than attempting a controlled obliviate.”

_“Lily, do you think it could be modified somehow to delete certain memories? Or at least memories of things that took place at a certain time for a certain amount of time?” Lily looks thoughtful when he turns to see her._

_“Not exactly, but you could alter it to delete a certain amount of memories. It would delete everything from the time the potion is taken to whenever you’ve set it to,” She tells him._

_“That could come in handy…”_

_“How so?”_

_Remus shrugs, “I don’t know. But I was thinking, we should start collecting, stocking up on all sorts of potions and ingredients. Spells, charms, rare, common, ones we create, and hide it in all in the castle. Leave a legacy for our children and their children and it can keep growing and stuff forever.”_

_“Where would we put all that?” Severus asks, the Marauders all exchange looks._

_“What about the attic?”_

“Wow, I have not been in here in _years_ ,” Remus says as he and Severus step into the attic.

“Didn’t we create this place with the intent of passing it down generations?”

“We did,” Remus replies, “You think it’s time we told them?”

“It’d certainly come in handy for this ‘cause’.”

Remus bites his lip, “I think it’s probably for the best that Jamie’s graduated.” Severus raises an eyebrow at his ex-husband. Remus sighs, “I know what Sirius said about how we don’t always treat her like an adult who can deal with things and make her own decisions, and he had a point.” Severus nods his agreement as he looks through the shelves of potions they’d made years ago trying to find the specific one. “I just…I love our daughter but I’m not sure how comfortable I’d feel about her having access to this.”

“She can be a bit…rash,” Severus replies, Remus nods. “Oh, found it. Right, let’s do this.”

The group go in to the room they’ve trapped Harry in, he immediately snarls at them.

“Let. Me. Go.”

“Sorry, Bambi, can’t do that,” Remus tells him. He takes a deep breath, “Ready?” He asks Severus who nods.

“Stupefy,” Severus casts before he goes over and pours the potion down his nephew’s throat, massaging to make him swallow. “I’m really glad we made Muistamattomuus Potion for a bunch of different time slots.”

“Time slots?” Luna asks curiously.

“The potion takes three hours to brew, and then you let it simmer. It takes away the memories of the person from the moment the potion is taken to however long it was left simmering. This one, as we labelled,” Severus explains, holding up the vial to show the label, “Was left for 84 hours, which is three hours more than we needed but it’s as close as we have.”

“So he’s going to forget that horrid lunch as well, I don’t think that’s much of a loss,” Blaise comments in a drawl.

Remus winces before clearing his throat, “Right then.” He focuses on Harry, pulling the need to control forward in his mind. “ _Feel no emotion!_ ”

“H-How do we know if it worked?” Neville asks anxiously.

At that moment, Harry groans, blinking awake. He looks around, confusion clear on his face, “Wha-?”

“Harry, hold still a moment,” Draco requests, kneeling in front of him and putting a hand to the side of his face. He focuses his empathy on the man who is arguably his closest friend. “What do you think of Dumbledore?” A tense look comes over Harry’s face, but more importantly Draco feels the familiar flare of rage within him. Draco turns to the others and nods, “It’s him.”

“Thank fuck,” Ron mutters, holding his hands out and helping both Draco and Harry to stand.

“Yes, yes, we’re all thankful. But what about?” Harry asks them.

“Definitely him,” Hermione says dryly.

“Come on, we’ll all get a seat and explain,” Remus promises, guiding everyone into the meeting room. “A spell was cast on you, Harry,” He explains, “It’s called the Moral Reversal Spell and it’s exactly what it sounds like. We’ve spent over a decade thinking there is no cure but, Severus found one.”

“So how did you work it out?” Harry queries.

Severus smirks, “I had a vision. Of this conversation actually.”

“Trippy,” Hermione comments, “We’re being watched by past Uncle Sev.”

“So, this is when you first heard the riddle? Well, not when, exactly…” Blaise frowns, trying to grapple some sane understanding of this insane situation.

“What riddle?” Harry asks, obviously frustrated that he doesn’t understand what is going on.

“Reversed…reversed…broken. What happened before will happen once more while the cure waits beyond the shore. Power lost he will regain until only sad is allowed to remain.”

“What else did your vision show you?” Pansy asks.

Severus chuckles, “Nothing actually. Well, this sentence is the last thing I heard before the Vision faded away.”

“Right well, Harry, the reason you don’t remember is because in order to cure you we had to take away a few days worth of memory,” Draco explains, “That’s how long you were under the influence of the spell.”

“What did I do?” Harry asks, looking uncomfortable, perhaps even fearful.

“Made my brother cry, for one,” Blaise replies, “Not that it was your fault,” He adds after Pansy hits him.

“You ran your mouth off a whole lot but that’s about it,” Ron tells him, rolling his eyes at the others.

“Right, and I’m assuming you know everything, then?” Harry asks Severus who nods.

“They didn’t really have a choice at the time. We needed to undo what Dumbledore did to you.”

Harry walks over and, to everyone’s surprise, he smiles a little. “Thank you.”

“So what now?” Ginny asks.

“Now we have an advantage,” Harry answers, “Dumbledore doesn’t know that I’ve been cured. He just needs to keep thinking that for a few more days. We’re so close to ending him. We have all the proof we need to pit everyone against him except the most loyal of followers. We need to push him over the edge, and for that I have a plan. But it’s going to take some convincing.”

“Convincing of who?”

Harry smirks,

“Del Black.”


	29. For Eternity

Chapter 28 – For Eternity

Note: Chapter Title from Robbie Williams’ song ‘Eternity’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Petunia Dursley sits at the kitchen of number 4 Privet Drive thinking on her life, and how unhappy she is with it. Vernon has always been a rather negative man, but he’s grown so hateful over the years and she’s turned a blind eye to it. It’s driven away everyone she has ever cared about and left her with no joy, no friends, and a lifetime of regrets. She had promised herself as a teenager that she would never let unfounded hatred interfere with her family after all the wasted time spent hating Lily. But it has, she’s lost everyone.

Petunia stares at her phone, knowing they’ll answer if she calls. Remus had texted her, after all, to tell her Sirius is alive and free, knowing she wouldn’t answer a phone call. They’re waiting for her, always waiting. She just doesn’t know if she’s worth waiting for anymore.

“I’m home!”

Petunia steels herself for a difficult conversation as her husband enters the kitchen and kisses her on the cheek, “Welcome home, Dear.” She takes a deep breath, “I was thinking, we should have some of my friends come over for dinner soon.”

“Some women from the sewing guild, I assume?” Vernon asks. Petunia hates the people in her sewing guild, though not as much as she hates sewing.

“Actually, I was thinking of Remus, Sirius, Severus, and the kids.” Vernon’s face starts turning red, and then purple. “I haven’t seen them in years and, well it would be nice to catch up with Sirius. Now that I know he’s alive and didn’t kill my sister.”

“I will _not_ have those _freaks_ IN MY HOUSE!” Vernon shouts at her.

“Those _freaks_ are my friends, Vernon. My family! I want my family back!”

“YOU LISTEN TO ME, WOMAN,” Vernon demands, grabbing Petunia by the hair. She cries out in pain but he ignores it, “DUDLEY AND I ARE YOUR FAMILY, YOUR _ONLY_ FAMILY! _Not. Them!_ ”

“Vernon, you’re hurting me!” Petunia cries.

“GOOD! MAYBE THAT’LL KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO YOU!” He screams as he shoves her to the ground. She drops her phone on the way down but quickly picks it up again and dials a number she knows off by heart, putting it on speaker just before Vernon knocks it out of her hand and pulls her up by her hair.

“Pet?” Phia Lupin’s voice comes through the speaker, sounding surprised by the call.

“OF COURSE, YOU’D CALL THE BLOODY DYKE!”

“Phia, help, please, Vernon’s lost it!” Petunia calls out, crying out in pain again when he tugs on her hair. All of a sudden Phia is standing right beside them. Just as suddenly, Vernon flies across the room and into a wall, dazed but conscious. “How did you…?”

“I don’t know,” Phia replies, eyes wide, “But I think we should get out of here.” Phia holds a hand out to Petunia who takes it. The two disappear right as Vernon lunges towards them. They reappear in Remus’ old house in France.

“D-Did you just…use magic?” Petunia asks, somewhere between awe-filled and fearful and mildly ill from whatever the hell that was.

“I think so, I…oh God I did, no, no this can’t be happening,” Phia says, pacing and pulling at her hair, “No, I don’t want this,” She states. A vase holding dead flowers shatters as she walks past. She jerks back in fright, “No, no, no, no, no,” She chants dropping to her knees as things start levitating around the room.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Phi,” Petunia tells her, kneeling in front of her.

“No, no, I don’t want to be like this,” She says, shaking her head rapidly, “They’re evil, I don’t want to be evil.”

Petunia grabs her chin, making her look at her, “You just saved me, Phia. Potentially you saved my life. You aren’t evil, you’re a miracle. And I am _so_ sorry I kicked you out, I’m sorry I let _him_ kick you out. Phia…” Petunia leans forward and kisses her oldest friend. The levitating things around the room stop their movement, frozen just as Phia feels time has as she kisses back and remembers…

_November 1973_

_Phia walks down streets at random, just enjoying spending time with her girlfriend._

_“Phia?”_

_Phia looks away from Julie to see, “Petunia?”_

_Petunia smiles, walking over, “Hi, how are you?”_

_“I’m good, yeah. Oh, Petunia, this is my girlfriend, Julie. Jules, my brother’s friend’s sister,” Phia introduces._

_“It’s nice to meet you, Julie,” Petunia replies._

_Julie smiles, nodding, “And you. We’re just looking for a bakery for lunch. Care to join us?”_

_“If it’s not an imposition, I’d love to.”_

_The three spend the next hour laughing together before Jules has to leave. Even after that, Petunia and Phia grab some tarts to go and walk through the park where they first met, feeling a friendship forming to last a lifetime._

_“…so then the next thing I know, Loopy’s playing guitar and it turns out he can actually sing,” Phia explains, Petunia and she laughing in Petunia’s loungeroom. It’s been months over a year since they first met and Phia’s staying over night, as she has many times now._

_“I wish I could go to Australia, or anywhere really. Vienna would be the best experience,” Petunia says._

_Phia grins, “Maybe you’ll go one day.”_

_“Yeah, maybe.” Petunia shakes her head with a smile, “So, your brother taught you and that’s how you learnt?” She asks, nodding towards the guitar in her friend’s lap. Phia nods. “Play me something?”_

_“Okay, but I only learnt this recently.” Phia takes a breath before she starts strumming. “Close your eyes so you don't feel them  
They don't need to see you cry  
I can't promise I will heal you  
But if you want to I will try_

_I'll sing this somber serenade  
The past is done  
We've been betrayed  
It's true  
Someone said the truth will out  
I believe without a doubt, in you_

_You were there for summer dreaming  
And you gave me what I need  
And I hope you find your freedom  
For eternity...  
For eternity_

_Yesterday when you were walking  
We talked about your mum and dad  
What they did that made you happy  
What they did that made you sad  
We sat and watched the sun go down  
Picked a star before we lost the moon  
Youth is wasted on the young  
Before you know it's come and gone to soon_

_You were there for summer dreaming  
And you gave me what I need  
And I hope you find your freedom  
For eternity...  
For eternity_

_For eternity  
I'll sing this somber serenade  
The past is done  
We've been betrayed  
It's true  
Youth is wasted on the young  
Before you know it's come and gone to soon_

_You were there for summer dreaming  
And you are a friend indeed  
And I hope you find your freedom  
For eternity_

_You were there for summer dreaming  
And you are a friend indeed  
And I know you'll find your freedom  
Eventually  
For eternity  
For eternity.”_

_Petunia claps enthusiastically, “Wow, you’re so good!”_

_Phia blushes, “Thanks, Pet.”_

_Phia’s out at dinner with Julie when her phone suddenly rings._

_“Oh, Phia, really?” Julie complains._

_“Sorry,” Phia replies, stepping away for a second to answer the phone, “Pet, what’s up?”_

_“I’m having a crisis and I really need your help.”_

_Phia frowns, “What’s going on?”_

_There’s silence on the line for a few moments before Petunia speaks again, this time tears are clear in her voice, “Please, can you come over?”_

_“…I’ll be right there.” Phia walks back over to the table, “I’m sorry, I have to go. Something’s wrong with Petunia.”_

_“Phia, it’s our anniversary and you’re taking off?” Julie asks, incredulous and annoyed._

_“My best friend needs me, Jules, what do you want me to do?”_

_“Think about your priorities for a moment, because I always seem to come second. What’s more important to you, Phia? Our relationship or whatever petty middle-class problem Petunia’s having?”_

_Phia looks at her girlfriend for a moment, disbelief on her face before she scoffs and grabs some cash out of her bag, putting it on the table. “See you later, Jules.”_

_She heads straight over to the Evans’ house. “Petunia?” She calls, letting herself in._

_“In here,” A sniffling voice replies from the closet under the stairs. Phia frowns as she opens the door to the closet and finds Petunia sitting on the floor. Phia moves to sit beside her and lets the door swing shut. “Lily and I used to hide in here when we were little and didn’t want to clean our rooms. We’d have a hoard of snacks each that we’d collected from various places and we’d bring them with us and stay in here for hours together.”_

_Phia smiles softly, “That sounds nice. If Remus and I were left alone that long we were at each other’s throats.”_

_Petunia chuckles at this, though it also has tears streaming down her face. “Vernon said today that he thinks Lily is odd. Says we probably won’t see her much once we’re married, doesn’t even want her at the wedding.”_

_“What?” Petunia lets out a small sob. Phia frowns, taking her hand, “Petunia, you told me that the biggest regret you have is the years you spent not close with Lily. Don’t let him make you regret more.”_

_“What if I can’t stop him?”_

_“Then call me, because I’m sure as hell not going to let him bully you into pushing away your family.”_

_Petunia smiles, nodding, “Thanks Phi.”_

_“I’m here for eternity, Pet.”_

_She nods, remembering the song sung so long ago, “For Eternity. Is that our version of ‘always waiting’?”_

_Phia chuckles, “Hopefully it doesn’t need to be proven as often.”_

_“They really are a mess, aren’t they? I’m surprised they haven’t blown up that school with all their arguments and mischief.”_

_“Well, Loopy did set a room on fire, so there’s that.”_

_The two laugh, cuddled together on the floor of the cupboard._

_“Okay, what’s all this about, Phia?” Julie asks, a smile on her face as she takes in the flower petals everywhere._

_“I…I know we can’t do this legally, but all the weddings lately got me thinking,” Phia begins, she kneels down on one knee, “Julie, will you marry me?”_

_Julia beams at her, and then the smile slowly falls. “Phia…I can’t.”_

_Phia frowns, getting up again, “O-Okay…erm, why not?”_

_“I love you, Phia, but I’ll always be second best to you.”_

_“What? That’s not true at all, Jules!”_

_“Yes, it is. Because whether or not you’re willing to admit it, you care for Petunia, a lot more than you should given she’s married to a homophobic arsehole. And I know, you’d never do anything so long as you’re with me and while she’s married. But I don’t want to live my life in second place,” Julie explains, tears in her eyes, “I’m sorry.”_

_She walks away._

_“AUNTIE PHIA!” Harry calls excitedly as Phia walks in the front door of Privet Drive. “Auntie Phia look look!” He drags her to the living room where his and Dudley’s new school uniforms are folded and waiting for them to wear in two days’ time._

_Phia grins at her nephew, “Hello to you too, how’s my favourite guy doing? Oooh, nice uniform. This reminds me of the horrid uniforms my brother and I had to wear at our primary school,” Phia tells him, glad he’s so happy._

_Harry giggles, “Did you have fun?”_

_Phia smiles, nodding, “Loads. Just…don’t set anything on fire while you’re there, okay?”_

_“Okay,” He agrees with a nod, “Oh! I maded bacon all by myself this morning!”_

_Phia freezes for a moment, blinking, “You did?” She turns to face at Petunia before looking back at Harry, “That’s wonderful,” She lies, not wanting Harry to think she’s upset with him nor take away from his accomplishment. “Kid, why don’t you go play outside for a bit.” Harry walks away._

_“Phi-”_

_“What the fuck is wrong with you, Petunia?!” Phia snaps, “He’s five, why is he anywhere near a hot plate let alone on his own!”_

_“He’s perfectly capa-”_

_“Would you have Dudley doing it? My God, Petunia! How would his parents feel if they were here?”_

_“WELL THEY AREN’T! THEY’RE IN PRISON!” Petunia shouts at her._

_“What’s going on here?” Vernon demands, entering the room._

_Phia and Petunia share a tense look before Petunia backs up towards her husband, “Phia doesn’t like the way we’re raising Harrison.”_

_“Oh she doesn’t? Well, you’re lucky we’re doing it at all!” Vernon tells her angrily, Phia sighs. “DON’T YOU SIGH AT ME, THAT FREAK SHOULDN’T BE OUR RESPONSIBILITY AND YOU SHOULD BE DAMNED GRATEFUL WE’VE TAKEN HIM INTO OUR HOME AT ALL!”_

_“YOU ONLY DID BECAUSE YOU’RE AFRAID OF A BEARDED OLD MAN WHO LOOKS LIKE A STRONG WIND WOULD SHATTER HIS BONES!”_

_“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”_

_Phia looks to Petunia, but Petunia only looks away. Phia scoffs, nodding, “_ Fine _, I will.”_

Phia opens her eyes as Petunia pulls away.

“Thank you, Phia, for saving me.”

Phia smiles, cupping Petunia’s cheek with her hand, “Didn’t I say I’d be here for eternity?”

Petunia smiles, nodding, “For eternity.”

“Where’s Remus living now, if not here?” Petunia asks as the two drink tea, the only consumable thing left in the house.

“Not sure exactly. Some secret base or something. How’s Harry?”

“Doesn’t live with us anymore,” Petunia replies.

“Did he move in with his Dad?” Phia asks, surprised when Petunia shakes her head.

“No, I doubt it. Harry doesn’t do great with having people who care for him, and after Sirius lied to him…I doubt it. But he left before Sirius came back to life, however that happened.”

Phia chuckles, “Yeah, I’m not sure what happened there but…”

“Best to just go with it?” Phia nods, the two laugh quietly, remembering the times they’d thought that as teenagers. “You remember Lucius Malfoy?”

“The blond? Remus’ friend that no one liked or trusted? Yeah, I saw him pretty recently actually. Surprisingly nice bloke now, helped me out.”

Petunia nods, “Harry moved in with he and his son, Draco.” Phia’s eyes go up in surprise. “Draco tried to convince us he was a muggle but pulled the same routine that Sirius did to win me over originally, back when Lily and I weren’t getting along.” Petunia has a pained, yet calm look on her face, finally coming to terms with her sister’s death. “I think I blamed him, somehow.”

“What?” Phia asks in confusion.

“Harry, I think I blamed him for Lily dying.” Petunia shakes her head as she frowns, “Stupid, I know. He shouldn’t have suffered because of me but…”

“Remus and I barely got along as children because of misplaced blame. He, in some way, felt I was at fault for him becoming a Werewolf. Took him ten years to get over it, just about,” Phia replies with a shrug. “It’s not a fun position to be in, but I don’t think he’ll blame you if you tell him that and apologise.”

Petunia nods, knowing she couldn’t possibly face him now. But maybe one day.

“I need to get back home…I’d like you to come with me.”

“I can’t leave my son,” Petunia says instantly, looking at Phia with fearful eyes.

Phia bites her lip, “Would he go with you, if you gave him the chance?”

Petunia looks at her mug, tears in her eyes. “I don’t know, but I have to try.”

“Hi, Dad!” Phia greets as she steps through the floo from Remus’ house to her parents’.

“Phi- did you ju-what?” Lyall stutters, but Phia walks out of the room. 

Then Petunia follows through the floo. “Hi, Lyall,” She says, then follows after Phia.

“Pet-wha-I-”

“We’re borrowing your car, thanks, Dad!”

The front door closes behind them.

Lyall just shakes his head, “I don’t want to know.”

Phia and Petunia drive all the way to Dudley’s school before waiting half an hour for school to end.

“Dudley!” Petunia calls out when she sees him. 

Dudley frowns in confusion but heads over, “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t pick me up anymore,” He says, casting surreptitious looks around to his friends.

“Well, you can blame me for this, it was my idea.”

Dudley’s eyes widen as he sees who is with his mother, “Aunt Phia!” He hugs her, for once not caring about seeming tough in front of ‘the guys’.

“Hiya, Dud.”

“What are you doing here? Does Dad know?” Dudley asks, suddenly looking concerned.

That more than anything tells Petunia she’s doing the right thing. “Dudley, I’m going to stay with Auntie Phia. I’d like for you to come with me.”

Dudley’s eyes widen again, “You’re leaving Dad?”

Petunia hesitates, wringing her hands before nodding, “I am, yes.”

“I don’t want to leave Dad.”

“I know, Dudders. But I don’t want to leave you alone with him, and I don’t want to lose my son. Please, come with me.”

Dudley hesitates, “I don’t want to move schools.”

“That could be a problem, I live pretty far away,” Phia tells Petunia quietly though Dudley can still hear and they both know that.

“How far?” Petunia asks.

“Vienna.”

“ _Vienna_?!”

“I’m sort of the queen,” Phia replies, scratching the back of her neck in a way reminiscent of her old friend James. Petunia blinks at her. Just blinks. Doesn’t know how else to react. “It’s a long story. You don’t want to know most of it.”

“Right…Anyway, Dudley, it doesn’t have to be forever. You can come and see your Father when you want to. But please, come with me now.” She takes Phia’s hand as she speaks, nervous that he’ll refuse.

He looks at it, looks between them, and his eyes widen. “Are you two…?”

“W-I-…” Petunia takes a breath, “We haven’t discussed it yet.”

Dudley walks away for a moment, then he walks back. “All right, fine. I’ll go with you.”

“Great!” Phia exclaims, then grimaces, “Now we just have to work out how to get to Vienna.”

“You’re the Queen, can’t you just order a royal jet or something?”

Phia sighs, “Sadly, no, Dudley. I never use it unless I’m travelling for diplomatic reasons. Plus, there’s no record of me leaving the country, that would be a tad awkward to explain.”

“Fireplace thing?” Petunia suggests awkwardly.

“No floo in the castle.”

“What about the teleport thing you did earlier?”

“I don’t know what that is or how I did it.”

“Will your Dad?” Petunia asks. Phia shrugs. “Why don’t we go find out?”

“I’m not really supposed to Apparate muggles, Phia,” Lyall tells her, looking between the three in his house. 

“I don’t need you to. Then there’d be no record of them entering the country and, in the palace, such things are monitored. What I need is for you to apparate me back while Petunia and Dudley get a plane over there,” Phia explains.

Lyall nods, “That I can do.”

Later the next night, with Dudley in his new room and Petunia and Phia relaxing in a sitting room, Phia broaches an uncomfortable subject.

“What happened?” She asks, “That set Vernon off, I mean.”

Petunia frowns, tears gathering in her eyes, “I only wanted to see your brother again, and the others. I mean, Sirius is back and innocent and I…” Petunia tries to swallow around the sob building in her throat, “He just went insane and I don’t know…I mean he’s never been like that, not with me, but he lost it and-” Phia moves forward, holding Petunia as she sobs.

“It’s okay Pet, you’re safe now. You’ll always be safe with me.” Phia sings in a soft voice, “For eternity  
I'll sing this somber serenade  
The past is done  
We've been betrayed  
It's true  
Youth is wasted on the young  
Before you know it's come and gone to soon.”

Petunia smiles, “You were there for summer dreaming  
And you are a friend indeed  
And I know you'll find your freedom  
Eventually  
For eternity.”

“For eternity.”


	30. I Wanna Know You

Chapter 29 – I Wanna Know You

Note: Chapter Title from Hannah Montana’s song ‘I Wanna Know You’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters. Also, I’m super disappointed in how much Hannah Montana has shown up in this story but we’re gonna leave that alone and pretend I haven’t noticed for my own sanity.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“We need to push him over the edge, and for that I have a plan. But it’s going to take some convincing.”_

_“Convincing of who?”_

_Harry smirks,_

_“Del Black.”_

Now,

“You ready for this?” Sirius asks his kids as they sit and wait for Del to be brought into the visitation area.

“Yep, no, no, yes?” Hermione replies nervously.

Sirius chuckles, throwing an arm around his daughter’s shoulders, “It’s gonna be fine, Mio. She’ll love you, you’ll love her.”

“And hopefully, the whole ‘you love Uncle Moony’ thing won’t even come up,” Harry throws in, earning an unhappy look from everyone present, that being Sirius, Remus, Harry, and Hermione.

“Here she comes,” Remus suddenly says, looking behind them.

Del walks into the room, seeing them and immediately coming over, “Harrison? Hermione?”

Hermione’s eyes fill with tears, “Mum.” She goes over and hugs her tightly.

It only lasts a moment because Del notices the guards looking antsy, but it’s more than Hermione has had for her entire life. “How are you both?”

“Good, we’re good,” Hermione replies as they all sit down around the table. Harry says nothing. Hermione elbows him, “Right Harry?”

“Yep.”

Del looks to Sirius who just shakes his head exasperatedly. “I’m glad you’re both here.”

“Can’t have been that desperate to see us,” Harry says.

“Harry!” Hermione snaps.

“What? She isn’t! If she actually gave two shits about us she’d have worked with Uncle Moony and Snape to be freed so that she could actually be with us. I mean what are we even doing here, Hermione?”

“Meeting our mother!”

“I don’t _have_ a mother. I never have.” Del takes a deep breath, holding back the pain her son’s words cause her. 

Sirius clears his throat, “Why don’t we give you two a minute?” He suggests, gesturing for Remus and Hermione to go with him. Del looks to Hermione uncertainly, but Sirius smiles, “We’ll be back, I promise.”

Hermione hugs her again before taking Sirius’ hand as they walk away.

“Harry, I do care about you both, more than anything.”

“Oh I know,” Harry says, “That’s why you’re here. Dumbledore did something that made you think being in here would protect Mio and I more than you ever could outside.” Del frowns in confusion. Harry smiles, “Yes, sorry about that little fit but, Sirius is quite predictable in how he reacts to things and I needed to speak to you alone.”

“What’s going on?” Del asks.

“I’ve been told that above all else you dislike injustice.” Del nods. “Well, I need your help to find some. See, things on the outside aren’t exactly like you’ve been led to believe. Hermione and I haven’t been safe, we grew up in abusive situations. Hermione recently got over a drug addiction and I’ve been dealing with an eating disorder, both as a result of the way we’ve been raised. We needed you, but you were told otherwise.” 

Del looks horrified, “T-They never said,” She tells him.

“I know. Uncle Moony and Snape didn’t know what was going on, not really, and they had no idea where Hermione was. But Dumbledore knew, he knew everything. He’s doing bad things and hurting a lot of people. We need your help to stop him.” Harry braces himself mildly, “Please, Mum.”

“How?” Del asks, a frown on her face but no trace of hesitation.

“Testify against him with whatever it is he did to keep you in here, and tell the truth about him lying about Mio and I and our safety.”

“Testify in what?”

“There’s going to be a trial, and it’s not going to be any wizengamot or minister that decides the verdict, it’s going to be every witch and wizard in Great Britain.”

“How are you going to manage that?” Del asks him, surprised by the person her son has grown to be.

“I’m pretty well known, I have connections, it’s all part of the plan.”

Del looks up to see Sirius and the others walking back over, she takes Harry’s hand, “I’ll do whatever I can to help,” She says quietly.

Harry nods, “Thank you.”

“How’s everything here?” Hermione asks as they sit back down.

“Well Harry was just telling me how sickeningly adorable the two of you are being,” Del says, looking between Remus and Sirius, “And it’s about bloody time.”

“Hold on, you knew how he felt?” Remus asks, “Did everyone know except me?”

“Literally everyone on the planet, Uncle Moony,” Hermione replies. 

Sirius just takes his hand, “It’s okay, Moons. You were worth the wait.”

Lucius Malfoy takes a deep, centring breath before he opens the door to his own study. “You wanted to see me, My Lord?”

“Yes, Lucius, come in,” Voldemort replies, “You’ve proven your loyalty to me, despite the small diary mishap.” Lucius winces at the reminder of that punishment. “As such, I have decided to tell you what Bellatrix was doing when I had her away from here.”

Lucius looks surprised, not bothering to school the expression. The two have had a looser relationship since Harry had moved in. Truly though, he is shocked that the Dark Lord would tell him this. A mere month after being sprung from Azkaban, Voldemort had sent Bellatrix on some kind of assignment, she wasn’t seen again for months only to come back as though nothing had changed. Yet it was after that that she began working against Voldemort, Lucius is sure of it. And that, ultimately, led to her death. He doesn’t understand, not until Voldemort turns around and the truth is revealed in his arms.

“This is Delphini Black. The daughter of the traitor…and of me.”

“…Oh…”

“I don’t want her. Not after what her mother did. Bellatrix forfeited the child’s right to my protection.”

“My lord?” Lucius questions in shock.

“Find somewhere else for her to be.”

“My Lord, your Son will not appreciate that,” Lucius warns.

“I will handle my son, Lucius. Now deal with the child.”

Lucius walks up, taking the child from Voldemort’s arms and walking out of the room. He looks at the baby, jet black hair like her parents, though it doesn’t appear to be growing curly. Blue eyes like her Father once had. “What the bloody hell am I supposed to do with a child that shouldn’t exist?”

Jamie Lupin is having a perfectly ordinary day at WWW, then her Uncle walks in carrying a baby.

“Uncle Lu?”

“Jamie, how are you?” Lucius asks with a pleasant smile.

“Confused, not that you don’t already know that.”

Lucius chuckles, nodding, unsure when his niece learnt about his empathy but unsurprised. “I need a favour.”

“What kind of favour?”

“Could you look after this child for me?”

“Whose child is it?” Jamie asks suspiciously.

“Your mother’s.”

Jamie drops the pen she was holding. “ _What_?”

“Yep, Care to watch her for a while?”

“Uncle Lu, what the bloody hell is going on!” She asks as she wanders over to see the baby.

“Language! Don’t teach your sister to swear,” Lucius chastises. Jamie continues gaping at him incredulously, “Okay this may not have been the best way to go about this.”

Jamie takes the baby from her Uncle, smiling down at her even as she replies snippily to her Uncle, “Gee, you think?”

“I need her away from the war, away from all of it, and I need your Dad to not know about her. Not yet.”

“If she’s here, he’ll find out about it,” Jamie tells him, “Maybe Wormy? Benni told me he’s innocent and free and with a family of his own now,” She suggests, obviously less than impressed with the trial’s outcome on that front.

“I’m being watched by a lot of people,” Peter tells Lucius, “If she stays here it won’t be a secret for long and I doubt your boss would be too impressed with the arrangement.”

Lucius sighs, watching as Bridget rests the baby in Rema’s lap because she’d wanted to hold the ‘potato’ as she had called it. There’s a limited vocabulary at Rema’s age, she’s doing her best.

“Did Bellatrix have any other family?” Bridget asks, Peter nods, “Maybe they could help?”

_Knock, knock, knock_

“I’m coming!” Andromeda Tonks is more than a little surprised to find her brother-in-law at the door. “Lucius, what do you want?”

“Nice to see you as well, Dromeda.”

“Lucius,” Andromeda says expectantly.

Lucius pulls the baby out of his coat which had been protecting her from the rain, “This is your niece. Bellatrix had a child prior to her death and I need someone to look after her without anyone, especially Remus or Dumbledore, finding out.”

Andromeda’s eyes widen. She takes the baby from Lucius and then pulls him inside and shuts the door. “I have another niece?”

Lucius nods, feeling hopeful. “She could be in a lot of danger, can you keep her safe?”

“I…Lucius I wish I could but she wouldn’t be safe here.”

“What could possibly be unsafe about this place?”

A small explosion is heard, “It’s fine! I got it, it’s fine,” Tonks’ voice comes from within the house.

Lucius nods, “Right, that.”

“I love my daughter but if she knows about this, so will Remus.” Lucius sighs, taking the baby back from her Aunt. Andromeda frowns, “You need someone completely separate from the wizarding world.”

“Like who?”

Drom shrugs, “What about Phia?”

Lucius arrives in Vienna, waits for two hours before he’s able to see the queen, and is finally shown in to the throne room.

“You have a visitor, Your Highness. He says he is an old friend of yours?”

Phia looks away from some letter that had just been handed to her and sees Lucius. She smiles, “More like family. It’s good to see you, Lucius,” She says as she walks over. “Why do you have a child?”

“Well, you remember Bella, don’t you?” Lucius asks.

Phia raises an eyebrow as she leads Lucius out of the room to walk through the halls, “Was once practically my sister-in-law, yes, the name rings a bell.”

Lucius sighs, “It’s her child. Anyway, I was hoping she could stay here with you.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Before Lucius has a chance to respond, he spots Petunia walking over.

“Lucius, hi,” Petunia greets confusedly.

“Hi,” Lucius replies, just as confused. He’s not sure if it’s more or less confusing when Phia winds an arm around Petunia’s waist.

“Lucius, I have a country to run and there’s already a teenager here. I don’t have time to look after a baby as well, let alone attempt to hide from my brother that I’m caring for the child of his dearest Trixie.”

“Phia, I have exhausted everyone imaginable. I asked Jamie, I asked Peter, I asked Andromeda, there is no one left to ask!”

Phia looks to Petunia who sighs, “I need to be there for Dudley right now and sort out this divorce and custody and such with Vernon.” 

Lucius sighs and nods.

“What about Severus?”

“If Severus knows something, Phia, so does Remus. There’s no way he doesn’t tell him.”

“If it’s for the safety of the child, I think he’ll surprise you,” Phia replies.

“Severus,” Lucius begins as he walks into his friend’s office and shuts the door behind him. “Do you have any idea where I could stash a baby without Remus, Dumbledore, or the Dark Lord finding out about it?”

Severus raises an eyebrow, “A few, why?” 

Lucius pulls the baby out of his robes. “No, please, don’t ask,” Lucius requests when Severus opens his mouth.

“Leave it with me, I know someone who will know someone. What’s the kid’s name?”

Lucius hesitates a moment on the name, he hadn’t given it to any of them. But the kid can’t go her whole life without a name. “Delphini.”

Severus spends the rest of the day in The Graveyard doing work and ensuring no one sees Delphini as he waits for Inimicus to turn up. Being a Zombie who doesn’t sleep has given him endless patience for waiting until people are around.

“Severus?” Harry asks in surprise when he walks in.

“Harry, how did it go with Del?”

“She’s on board with the plan.”

Severus chuckles, “Well, that’s good, but it’s not quite what I meant.”

Harry sighs, sitting beside his God-Father. “I had this friend a long time ago, she was everything to me. My best…my _only_ friend. But she moved away. I found out years later that she’s a witch, that she’d known who I am all along and allowed me to think my parents died in a car crash. Of course, she didn’t know the _real_ truth, but she thought she did and she kept it from me. Del…she had the whole world lying to me and it made me realise.”

“Realise what?” Severus asks, surprised by how open his nephew is being.

“It made me realise that sometimes we do hide things from people, trying to protect them from what we think they can’t handle. I’ve done the same. I’ve been so angry at everything for so long, angry at all of you as well. But how could you be expected to look me in the eye and tell me that my Father tried to kill me, my Dad is in Azkaban for trying to help him, and my mother is in Gaol as well for a totally unrelated reason but can’t get out because my Father murdered her brother and My Dad supposedly helped him do that and then killed my uncle. I mean, it’s ridiculous, it’s not something you tell a kid. And yeah, my childhood sucked, but it would have sucked more if I’d known that all along. Even if possession and false accusations and kidnappings mean that none of that is quite accurate…I’m lucky no one told me. What it really made me realise is that I don’t hate my Mother.” Harry looks at his hands for a moment before admitting quietly, “I want to know her.” He looks back up, “Is that stupid?”

“No, Harry. It’s not stupid at all.” He smiles, “And I’m absolutely certain that she wants to know you too.”

“What are you doing down here, anyway?” Harry asks him after a few moments of silence.

“Erm, actually, I was hoping you’d know of somewhere I could hide a baby where she would be looked after in secrecy.” Severus grabs the baby from the open drawer that he had lined with blankets to make comfortable.

Harry raises an eyebrow, looking intently at the child for a moment before his eyes widen minutely, “Dobby!”

“Harry Potter! Dobby is very happy to see Harry Potter, Sir,” The House-Elf says as he appears.

“Dobby, how would you like a better paying job than you have now?” Harry asks him.

“Dobby is always looking to push himself further to make a place for paid house-elves.”

“Do you have any experience with infants?”

“Of course, Dobby helped to raise Young Masters Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Knott, and Zabini and Mistresses Lupin, Parkinson, and Greengrass,” Dobby replies.

“Dobby, glad to see you’re doing well,” Severus greets in amusement.

“Master Snape! Dobby is glad to see you are well as well.”

Harry clears his throat, “Dobby, would you be willing to look after a baby in secret and make sure no one finds out about it? Obviously I shall pay you to do so.”

“Harry, you don’t have to. It’s my favour, I can-”

“Either you underestimate how far I am willing to go for that child or you don’t know who it is.”

Severus frowns in confusion, “I know her name, nothing else.”

Harry smiles at the baby as he takes her from Severus’ arms and holds her to his chest. “I will go to the ends of the earth to protect Delphini. I am more than willing to do this. Besides, I have an idea where you can hide with her, Dobby. That is, if you wouldn’t mind apparating us there, Severus?”

Severus Snape, Harrison Riddle-Potter-Black, Delphini Black, and the Free-Elf Dobby walk in to Potter Manor, a place left untouched by human hands for almost fifteen years. Well, Delphini doesn’t walk, Harry carries her, but that’s beside the point.

“No one will find them here,” Severus says as they walk in. Only, the house seems to be…well…remarkably liveable.

“Master Potter!”

“Master Potter!” 

“Master Potter!” Three house-elves appear in front of the group.

“Err, hi?” Harry says unsurely.

“Oh, we didn’t even think…” Severus trails off. “Harry, this is Flossy, Mimah, and Tessel. The house-elves of the Potters.”

“We had _three_ house-elves?”

“Well, your grand-parents had two. Mimah was brought on after they died, back during the first war when the house was being used by Tonks’ parents to look after at-risk kids. Only, a fourth was as well, where’s Kollie?” Severus asks the house-elves before him.

The three exchange frightened looks. “Flossy doesn’t know sir, Kollie answered a call from Master Potter and never came back, Sir.”

“Which Master Potter?” Severus presses.

“Young Master James, Sir. Master James was in trouble and called for help. Kollie went to help but Flossy, Mimah, and Tessel were busy with the children, Sir. Kollie didn’t come back and Master James…” Flossy bursts into tears, pulling on her ears.

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” Harry tells them as he kneels down. “I don’t know what happened, but I know that house-elves are a good lot, they do everything they can to help. Just because it doesn’t work doesn’t mean it wasn’t enough, because any bit of help means _everything_ when you are in trouble. What happened to Uncle James wasn’t Kollie’s fault, and it wasn’t yours.”

Flossy walks forward, “Potters have always been kind to their house-elves. Yous are different, Master Potter, Sir.”

Harry looks uncomfortable and clears his throat, “Flossy, Tessel, Mimah, this is my friend Dobby,” Harry introduces.

“Dobby is pleased to meet you,” Dobby tells them.

“Now, it’s clear you liked serving my family, but I have to admit that I’m uncomfortable with having servants. So,” Harry begins, “If I were to free you, ah, let me finish,” Harry requests, holding up a hand to stop the protests, “If I were to free you but hire you to continue working here as you have been, would you agree to that? You’ll still live here and work for me, but you’ll be paid for it, and you can have all the clothes you want.” 

The three hesitate, conversing quickly before the stand before Harry again. “We agree, Sir.”

“Okay, we’re going to need day clothes and pyjamas for all of you. What colours do you all like?” Harry asks them.

Severus grabs some spare parchment and quills and such out of his pocket, transfiguring them into velvet three piece suits.

“Mimah likes Orange, Master Potter, Sir,” Mimah tells him. Harry looks to Severus who raises an eyebrow. Harry nods to him. He sighs and changes one of the suits to be a bright orange and gives it to Harry who hands it to Mimah.

“Wow,” Mimah says, running her hands over the fabric. Tears fill her eyes, “Thank you, Sirs. Mimah is grateful.”

“What about you, Tessel? What colour do you like?” Harry asks, looking to the correct House-Elf.

“Tessel likes the sky, Sir,” He replies.

“Severus?” Severus sighs, changing one of the suits to be sky blue. Harry gives it to Tessel who launches himself forward and hugs Harry. Harry shifts to protect Delphini but hugs the House-Elf back. “Flossy?”

Flossy frowns in thought before she looks up, excitement in her giant eyes. “Flossy likes rainbows sir!”

“W-”

“Severus,” Harry says pointedly. Severus looks annoyed but makes the suit rainbow and hands it over. They then sort out pyjamas for each of the elves and clothes for Dobby too. “All right, now, this is Delphini.” He holds the baby out for them to see. “Can you all help Dobby to look after her?”

“Yes, Master Potter,” The three Elves chant.

Harry looks down at the child, Delphini yawns before she puts her fist in her mouth, looking up at Harry curiously. Harry strokes her cheek. “You have your Father’s eyes, you know,” He tells her.

“Who is she, Harry?” Severus asks him.

“The less known about her, the better.” Harry looks up, “Look after her, all of you, please.”

“We will, Harry Potter, Dobby promises.”

Harry finally hands the child over to Dobby before he rises.

Then they walk away.

Harry sits at the window in his dorm, pushing around the food on his plate and not actually eating it. He’s avoiding the Great Hall in an effort to keep Dumbledore convinced that he’s still under the influence of the Moral Reversal Spell. He stares out of the window, feeling mildly in shock. Benni won’t even look at him, everyone seems to be avoiding him, unsure what to think of his behaviour over the last few days. Even the teachers seem to not know how to react. He started this venture because he wanted to teach someone that the World Isn’t Kind, he wanted to take control of something for once instead of everything happening to him. He supposes that’s why he’s always gotten involved when strange things have been happening around Hogwarts. After growing up as he had, always pushed around, often literally, he’d needed to know what was going on and control the outcome, usually by stopping whatever nefarious plot was in place at the time. Then he’d been entered into the Triwizard Tournament against his will, Cedric had been killed, his blood had been taken from him while he was unable to stop it, Umbridge had reigned supreme at the school, and when he’d tried to end all this nonsense and save Sirius, finally able to _do_ something…he’d failed, and Sirius had died.

Perhaps the whole Inimicus thing has been an extreme way to take control, but the world has let him down again, and again, and he’s damned sick of it. And now, the Headmaster cast a spell on him that he knows all too well what the grander effects could have been. He took Harry’s choice away, took his morals, took his control, and Harry _will_ put that right, he _will_ take it back, no matter _what_ it takes. So yes, Dumbledore will fall, and yes, the Ministry will be pulled apart and put back together greater than it ever has before, and _yes_ , Harry will have great input in the world he lives in. For once, he’ll able to help. For once, he can make things better. For once, he _will_ be in control.

Dumbledore will _not_ get away with this.

He. Will. Pay.

“Right then, are we really doing this?” Blaise asks as the original Reapers stand around the meeting table. 

Harry nods, “It’s time. There’s more to do, in general, to stabilise things with my Father and the Ministry. I’ve made promises to my sister that I intend to keep. But yes, in regards to Dumbledore, we’re really doing this.”

“What happens after?” Pansy asks, “When this is all over and done. What do you want to do with your life, Harry?” Harry thinks about that before chuckling, seeming rather peaceful.

“I want to live it.”

Draco smirks, “Then in two days, Dumbledore falls.”


	31. How Am I Gonna Be An Optimist About This

Chapter 30 – How Am I Gonna Be An Optimist About This?

Note: Chapter Title from Bastille’s song ‘Pompeii’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Draco smirks, “Then in two days, Dumbledore falls.”_

Now,

They don’t sit together on the train, they never do. But every Reaper feels the connection to the others as they ride back to Kings Cross for the end of their second term. It’s hard to believe that it’s only been two terms since this all started, less for many of them. But Harry feels as though he’s been waiting years.

Eventually, they make it, and Harry has the strange experience of being met at the train station by his Dad. He’d elected to go back to Grimmauld Place rather than supposedly Malfoy Manor, though it actually would have been the old Riddle House, this time. Harry had needed to be with the Order for his plan to work, not with his Father as much as he’d like to be. Still, for all that this decision was made tactically, Harry feels a deep longing in his chest as he meets Sirius’ eyes across the station. He stares at him for a minute, then walks over and hugs him.

“Are you all right, Harry?” Sirius asks him, hugging the boy back.

“I’d do anything for you, you know that, don’t you?”

Sirius frowns, “Of course I do, and I for you.” Harry nods, pulling back. Soon after, they all leave to head back to Grimmauld Place.

“Benoit!” Harry calls as he jogs to catch up to the boy once they’ve arrived.

Benoit turns around, crossing his arms defensively and looks at Harry with anger and hurt in his eyes.

“Can we talk? Privately?” Benoit continues frowning and walks into his bedroom, allowing Harry to follow in after him. “I’m sorry about before. Honestly, Benni, I don’t remember what happened. It’s complicated, but I swear, I would never have willingly upset you.”

“So, what, someone put a gun to your head and _made_ you tell me that we aren’t family because we aren’t blood?”

Harry’s eyes widen, “I said that?” He asks quietly. “Benni, I don’t think that at all. You are my cousin, so is Neville. So is Blaise, I guess, since he’s your brother. Never thought about that,” Harry says before shaking his head and focusing on Benoit again. “Someone put a spell on me, it’s complicated, like I said. But really and truly, anything I said is quite literally the _opposite_ of what I really think.”

Benoit bites his lip, debating. Then nods a tad nervously. Harry holds his arms out and, after another moment of deliberation, Benni darts forward and hugs Harry tightly. “I’m glad you’re back.”

Harry hugs him closely, “I am too. I know I upset you, but it wasn’t me. I’m here for you, Benni. When it’s me, I’m always here. And hopefully, the person who cursed me won’t be a problem for much longer.”

Benni freezes, something twigging in his brain. “Y-You’re him,” he says, pulling back, “You’re Inimicus.”

“What? Benni, that’s ridiculous.”

“No, no, it’s not. You like Werewolves, that’s why you helped Dannie. And this all started after Uncle Padfoot died, you snapped or something, you must have. I pissed off Dumbledore, then you see him as well and then you’re under some kind of spell that oppotises your beliefs just like the one that was put on Jamie’s mother? That’s not a coincidence!”

“I don’t think oppotises is a word,” Harry replies.

“Tais-toi!”

“I don’t speak French.”

“I said ‘Shut up’,” Benoit tells him, “You’re trying to stop Dumbledore because you blame him for Uncle Padfoot’s death.”

Harry observes him for a moment, then shakes his head, “Oh I blame him for a lot more than that.”

“I want to help.” Harry’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “If you’ve been watching him then you’ve seen the way he bullies my Papa, pushes him around, guilts him into blaming himself for deaths he had no control over. I’m not a fool, I know evil when I see it.”

“What would you know of evil?” Harry asks him, concerned, not judgemental.

“I feel it, every day,” Benoit replies, “I had a twin brother once. You say his name in front of anyone who knew him and they flinch in fright and disgust. He tortured my parents and tried to murder me at seven years old. At seven years old the Minister quite gladly sentenced him to Azkaban and I can _feel_ it. Because that’s what happens with magical twins. There’s a soul deep connection that no amount of hatred or insanity can sever, and I have searched for ways. There are none. I know evil, it’s intertwined within me and I will do whatever I can to fight it off. Let me help defeat your evil. Then maybe you can help me defeat mine.”

Harry looks him over, then he nods. “Dumbledore will be finished come tomorrow, but there will be a lot of fall out. We’ll use the destabilisation to build a better foundation. A better world. For everyone.”

“Even people like my parents? Non-Humans?”

“ _Everyone_.”

Harry is about to leave when Benni grabs his arm, “Erm. When you were under the effects of the spell…well, I’d gone to talk to you about something when you snapped at me.”

Harry frowns, taking a seat, “How can I help?”

Benni smiles at him, “See, that’s the response I was expecting, far more than ‘don’t you have a sister you can write to’.” Harry winces at that slightly, Benni sighs, “Sorry. Anyway. I…” Benni trails off, biting his lip again.

Harry takes his hands, “Hey, you can talk to me about anything, Benni. That’s what family is for. That’s what you, and Jamie, and Uncle Moony taught me.”

“Yeah,” Benni says with a nod, “It’s just, I’ve been having these thoughts…feelings…” Benni folds into himself slightly, “Like, maybe I’m not who I’m supposed to be.”

“In what way?”

Benoit grabs his elbow nervously before he takes a deep breath and tries to summon up some kind of genetic bravery from his Gryffindor Father, “I don’t think I was meant to be a boy.”

Harry’s eyes widen, “Oh.” Benni looks at him nervously. For a moment, he feels the same disgust he had felt when he first met Remus and was faced with a homosexual, luckily he is disciplined enough now that it does not show on his face even as he internally feels a grimace. Then he looks at his cousin, really looks, and as suddenly as it came, the feelings of disgust left. Harry smiles, “Benni, there’s nothing wrong with that. Do you feel like you’re a girl?” Benni nods anxiously. Harry smiles again, nodding, surprised and relieved that he really is okay with this. Maybe he truly _can_ move on from Uncle Vernon’s toxic presence. “Then you’re a girl.”

“But I’m not though, I just _should_ be.”

“There are things that can be done to change your body, probably more in the magic world. You’d have to talk to your parents about it.”

“How? I mean…I shouldn’t be like this,” Benni tells him, tears in his eyes, “People will think I’m a freak.”

Harry freezes momentarily, he remembers the first time he heard his name, only knowing himself as ‘freak’ before then. “Come with me.”

“Hey Ginny!” Harry calls out, holding Benni’s hand as they walk down the hallway and knock on Ginny’s door.

Ginny opens it, standing there with a bra and trousers on but no shirt. “I’m getting changed Harry, is it important?”

“Yep, do you have a dress in my size?”

Ginny quirks an eyebrow but allows them both into her and Hermione’s room. She looks through her closet before coming back with a black long-sleeved dress that stops at knee-length and has sunflowers on it. “This should fit.” 

Harry takes off his jeans and his shirt and puts the dress on, standing in front of a mirror and looking at himself. “Oh my God, do I have my mother’s legs?” He asks.

“Lady legs,” Ginny says with an amused snort, she grabs some brown boots with a small heel and chucks them to him. He puts them on. “Oh yeah, definitely got her legs.”

Benni snickers from the bed he’s sat on.

“Okay, I think Mrs Weasley’s probably got dinner going, want to go help set the table?” Ginny throws a shirt on and then all three go down to the dining room.

“Need any help, Mum?” Ginny asks as they walk in.

Molly responds without looking up, “As a matter of fact, if you could get the plates,” She looks over to point to the plates in question and narrows her eyes, “Harry James Potter, _what_ do you think you are wearing?! You’ll catch a chill! Ron’s jumper is there on the chair, put it on!”

“I love this woman,” Harry says quietly as he grabs the aforementioned jumper and puts it on.

“Right, now, you get the plates, Benni the placemats, and Ginny, you’re on cutlery.”

“Yes Mum/Mrs Weasley.”

Molly looks to Benni in shock. He’s confused for a moment before he realises, “Oh, yeah, I talk now.”

“Hey, have you been signing in French or English?” Harry asks as the three set the table.

“I know BSL and LSF, that’s the British and the French version. I’ve used the French except at Hogwarts where I use the British.”

“Nice boots, Harry,” Hermione says as she walks into the room.

“Look better on you than on Ginny,” Ron replies.

“Hey!” Ginny complains, throwing a placemat at him.

“I just put that down!” Benni groans.

“Well he started it,” Ginny defends.

“Don’t blame me for your bad temper!”

“Do I have to separate all three of you?” Molly asks them. Benni, Ginny, and Ron all shake their heads sheepishly.

“Are we interrupting something?” Sirius asks as he and Remus walk into the room to find the three in trouble.

“It’s sorted now,” Hermione tells them.

“Harry, why are you in a dress?” Sirius asks him, then frowns, “No, scratch that. Moony, why did I never think to wear a dress? Lily had some gorgeous ones. I would’ve looked swell in those.”

“Well, you and Marley did agree once that you’d make a great woman. Remember, when you first heard about Phia and asked if my sister is hot only to find out she’s a lesbian?”

Harry drops the plate he’s holding. “Son. Of. A. Bitch. _YOU’RE_ AUNTIE PHIA’S BROTHER?!”

Remus looks mildly alarmed at being yelled at but nods, “Yes. You know, I forgot she was allowed to go see you for a few years in the beginning.”

“Yes, and then she never came back. I assume Uncle Vernon banned her or something, they did have an argument,” Harry says, thinking back, “Don’t know what about. All I remember is being excited because I’d cooked bacon on my own for the first time.”

“Mate, I still can’t even do that,” Ron admits. 

Harry chuckles at him, “I’d offer to teach you but your Mum’s is way better anyway.”

“Hold on, Phia stopped being able to see you before Severus and I were married. That was a decade ago. You’d have been, what, five?” Remus asks him.

“Yeah, it was a few days before I started school.”

“I see why they argued,” Sirius says in a carefully controlled tone.

“What do you mean?” Harry asks.

“Harry, tell me, would you leave Little Benni in a kitchen to cook bacon on his own with no supervision?”

“No, I mean he’s perfectly capable but…still, I mean no offence Benni, but you’re eleven and bacon spits.”

“Right, so would you even consider leaving a five-year-old to do it?” Hermione asks.

“Of course not,” Harry replies, then his eyes light up, “Ohhhh, yeah, okay, I get it.” Harry looks nervous suddenly, “I-If Auntie Phia is your sister, does that mean you have a way of contacting her?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Hold on, hold, the butthole, on,” Benni suddenly says, everyone looks at him in surprise, “That sounded better in my head but more importantly. Perè, since when do you have a sister?”

Remus scratches the back of his head awkwardly, “Literally the day I was born, she’s a twin, we stopped talking for about a decade but recently got back in touch?”

“HOW HAVE I NEVER HEARD ABOUT THIS?!” Benni yells, it’s an odd moment to realise it’s the first time he has yelled in four years.

“Well, I didn’t think we’d ever speak again so, what was the point?”

“What happened that could have possibly stopped you speaking? Jamie literally aided a murderer and I was like, whatevs.”

“Sirius was innocent.”

“Still illegal, though!”

Remus sighs, “Are Moody or Tonks around?”

“What did you do?” Ron asks him. Remus looks confused. “You wouldn’t be asking about the resident Aurors if what happened had been legal.”

“Let’s just all sit down, okay?” Remus suggests, they all do, Mary joining the room and staying quiet as she feels the tense atmosphere. “Twenty years ago I had this boyfriend, Derek. He was…a butthole,” Remus tells them, sending Benni an amused look. His cheeks flush slightly. “He ended up in prison and I helped put him there. When he got out, he kidnapped my sister.”

“Derek kidnapped Phia?!” Sirius exclaims, “When were you gonna mention that?”

“Never?” Remus offers.

Sirius glares at him, “Are you kidding me?”

Remus sighs, summoning a drink and draining it before continuing his story. “Phia’s best friend, Harry’s Aunt Petunia, came down while it was all happening. She had been the one to originally press charges against him and we were concerned he’d go after her.” Remus clears his throat, “She told me to go find Phia and I said no because I couldn’t risk the exposure of the magical world.”

“That doesn’t sound like you,” Ginny says, frowning.

“It used to,” Sirius replies, surprised to hear that side of Remus was present after the war.

“Yes, well, it didn’t take much to convince me otherwise. I went after them and did what I had to to save my sister from my own stupid mistake. She couldn’t face me after that, said she never wanted to see me again, and for ten years we never spoke.”

“Why did you start again?” Harry asks, knowing it takes a lot to get over things that push people away _that_ much.

“Well her husband died and his cousin was trying to take over the country, she and Sev made a plan because it turns out they’d continued talking for that decade behind my _back_ but that’s a whole nother story, _anyway_ ,” Remus says, everyone seeming various levels of uncomfortable and amused. “Anyway, she needed my help to secure her place as Queen of Vienna and we’re on, well, as good terms as we ever are.”

“I thought you said she was a lesbian?” Harry asks.

Remus nods, “Yeah, I don’t know, wasn’t there. Ask Severus, he might.”

“You’re so bitter,” Sirius says with a chuckle.

“Yes, bitter old man,” Remus replies with an amused smile.

“Ew, don’t be cute,” Ginny complains.

“Right, okay, Harry, you were asking something?” Benni reminds him.

“Yeah, could we maybe…see her? I-I miss her,” Harry says, wincing slightly at that. It’s the first indication anyone can remember of Harry actively seeking out a familial connection, none of the room’s occupants having been there when he opened up to Severus about his Mother.

“I haven’t seen her since the whole taking over a country thing. About time for a visit I think,” Remus tells him with a smile. Harry smiles happily.

“Hey, why don’t you call her now?” Sirius suggests. Remus shrugs and pulls out his phone, dialling the number and putting the phone on speaker, assuming Sirius and Harry will want to be a part of the conversation.

“Eyy, if it isn’t my favourite arsehole, we were just talking about you,” Phia says as she answers the phone.

Remus rolls his eyes, “And this is why we’ve never gotten along well.” Harry snickers.

“Who’s there with you?” Phia asks sounding confused.

“Hi, Auntie Phia,” Harry says when Remus nods at him.

“Harry!” Phia responds ecstatically, “How are you?”

“I’m great, with Uncle Moony and my Dad,” Harry explains to the shock of the room, Sirius smiling with pride and happiness.

“Oh, the Mutt is there too, is he?” Phia asks fondly.

“Oi!” Sirius complains.

“I’m glad you’re alive, Sirius. And innocent.”

“Said so,” Remus throws in.

“Yeah, you also said that the gym and library fires were accidents.”

“They were!”

“I realise you’re in separate countries but I swear to God, I will separate you two,” Sirius says sternly. “That argument can go for a while,” Sirius explains to the others.

“Oh sod you. How’s Hogwarts, Harry? Is it good? Have you made friends?”

“Yes, ones that broke my living room and pulled some kind of magical prank on my son,” They hear muttered in the background.

Harry’s eyes widen, “Aunt Petunia?”

“We didn’t _mean_ to break the living room,” Ron comments.

“Even if they did, you were kinda being a bitch,” Phia mutters, they hear a huff in the background that they assume is Petunia not bothering to argue against that but being annoyed all the same. Harry shares a grin with his friends.

Remus buries his face in his hands. “Phia, Harry and I were wondering if you wanted to catch up sometime soon?”

“Well, I’m back in England in a few days to help with a divorce lawyer and have dinner with your prime minister, we could meet up for lunch or something? Either that or you two, and your mutt should you so choose, could come here?”

“Wait, divorce lawyer?” Remus asks in confusion.

There’s some quiet muttering before Phia’s voice becomes clear again, “Yes, Vernon and Petunia have…separated.”

“…Did not see that one coming,” Harry states, bewildered.

“Is Pet okay?” Sirius asks.

“She will be, now that she’s not under the iron thumb of that homophobic self-important piece of –”

“Children in the room, Phia!” Remus interrupts.

“Harry’s fifteen, Loopy.”

“Don’t start with the Loopy again, swear to God,” Remus says, massaging his head. “And I wasn’t talking about Harry. Benni’s in the room too.”

There’s silence on the other end, then Petunia’s voice come through, “Phia’s having a bit of a moment,” She says, “Something about suddenly realising that babies grow up even when you weren’t around to see it.” There’s a small scuffle and then, “Hey, don’t snatch, what are you, a toddler?”

“How are they? Benoit and Sevrin, I mean, and Jamie.”

Remus freezes as Sirius turns to him, “Who’s Sevrin?”

“Just another person to turn on the ones who care for them,” Remus whispers. He forgoes the glass entirely and just takes a few gulps from the bottle of whiskey, not even noticing the burn anymore.

“I don’t think that’s going to help, Remus,” Sirius tells him.

“Sure it will. Brain goes fuzzy and I don’t have to remember.”

“Has his drinking really gotten that bad again?” Phia questions.

Sirius sighs, massaging his nose, “Did James ever tell you about that time we found him on the bathroom floor and honestly thought he was dead for a solid minute?”

“Yeaaaaaaah…” Phia responds, drawing out her answer nervously.

“Yeah.”

“Jesus,” Phia mutters.

“It’s not that bad,” Remus replies, words running together just a little.

“Porfuna.”

“Lupjut!” Remus glares at the phone, everyone can practically feel Phia glaring back.

“Are you two done twinning?” Sirius asks. Remus rolls his eyes but nods. “We’d love to see you while you’re back in the country, Phia.”

“Gre-” Phia’s sentence gets cut off and a small kerfluffle of noise is heard on her side of the throne. “Fick alles,” She says in German before switching back to English, “I have to go, some idiot just tried to break into the Palace. I’ll see you soon, Loopy. Good to hear from you, Harry, I’m glad you’re okay.”

“See you soon, Aunt Phia!” Harry replies before the call drops.

Sirius waits a moment before turning to his partner, “Look, if this is one of those don’t ask me, talk to Severus for details things then just –”

“Non!” Benni calls desperately, “Ne parle pas à Papa!” Benni takes a deep breath, shaking his head.

“Okay, okay, I won’t. Is it something you can tell me about?” Sirius asks, noticing Remus spaced out. He takes his hand and gets a light squeeze in response but nothing more.

Benni curls in on himself, biting his lip but finding himself unable to make words, once more afraid of his voice. He knows, this time, the feeling will fade. But for now…he just can’t.

“No, it isn’t,” Harry replies for his cousin, “But Benni’s told me enough that I can explain who he is and why none of them should be asked about it if it can be at all avoided. Just not now, and not around them,” He says. Sirius nods, accepting that and reaching across to take Benni’s hand comfortingly as well.

That night the Reapers of the house get together, getting out the enchanted parchment to coordinate the end game with the others, only the others urgently request that they postpone plans. It’s Blaise that requests they all meet up urgently. 

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_We found something._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Found what?_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Bad._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

“So where the hell do we meet up?” Ginny asks the group.

“I’ve got an idea,” Ron tells them all.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Meet on the Knight Bus. Top level._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Understood_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Little Benni sneak out of the house, hail the Knight Bus, and climb to the top. It stops three times before Draco joins them.

“Figured it was less likely to be noticed if only one of us was absent,” Draco explains when Ron questions the absence of Blaise and Pansy.

“Fairo. So, why the sudden meeting?” Ginny questions, getting down to business immediately.

Draco sighs, rubbing at his forehead for a moment in an uncharacteristic show of stress. “Look, it’s complicated, but essentially Pansy found reference to a location that we believed to be important.” Draco holds a hand up to stop the questions, “I told you, it is complicated and we don’t have time for me to explain it all right now,” He tells them harshly. They all pipe down, Harry nods for him to continue. “Right, so we checked it out, that was our second mistake. We foun-” Before Draco can even finish the word, the Knight Bus lurches as something impacts it, rolling to its side before something collides with it again.

Harry, having lost his glasses in the fall when the bus went sideways, sees a fuzzy blob moving towards him and he realises the bus has been boarded. Before he can do anything, he hears someone say ‘stupefy’ and he knows no more.

When Harry wakes up, he hasn’t even properly registered the fact that he is conscious again before someone is helping him sit up.

“Harry, thank God,” Hermione mutters.

“Mio?” Harry asks, squinting his eyes at her despite knowing it was fruitless. Still, he had lived the first 9 years of his life without glasses, he could deal with it now. It would just make escape a tad more difficult.

“You know, I’ve actually never thought to ask how much you can see without your glasses,” Draco states, sounding a little surprised as he realises this. 

“Not a hell of a lot,” Harry replies, looking vaguely in the direction of Draco’s voice, but evidently he is too far away for Harry to pinpoint, even within the confines of the cell. Harry knew his eyesight was getting worse as he got older, but he hadn’t truly recognised by how much.

“Well, that should aid in halting any escape attempts you feel the need to make,” Voldemort’s voice comes from what Harry assumes is the doorway based on the increased light around him, helping Harry see a vague shape of his blob.

Harry stands up, facing him without fear despite his current vulnerability. “What do you want, Father?”

“I’m going to offer you a choice, Harrison, and I will only offer it once,” Voldemort replies, ignoring Harry correcting his name entirely, “Join me, or remain a prisoner.”

For a moment, Harry genuinely feels like a child. He doesn’t want to alienate his Father, and isn’t that a ruddy shock to him. He frowns, trying to think tactically.

“Harry?” Benni half-whispers, shocked that he is hesitating.

“Let my friends go.”

“This is not a negotiation, Harrison. It is simple, you are with me, or you are against me.”

Harry scoffs, “The only person I stand against is bloody Dumbledore.”

“Then join me in killing him!” Voldemort demands.

“Don’t you get it, Father? The best way to do that is from the inside and there is no one he believes to trust him blindly more than me,” Harry tries to explain, unsure what is even happening in this conversation anymore. “Joining you would not destroy Dumbledore, it would just mean betraying my friends.” Harry hesitates for a moment, a plan forming in his mind. “We were just getting to know each other, Father. Don’t make me choose.”

“Life is full of hard choices, and I do believe you have made yours. As have you.”

Harry internally smirks as he hears the door close though he has no idea who that last bit was aimed at considering he cannot see who Voldemort looked to.

“What’s with that look? That went terribly,” Hermione tells him, “And now F-…erm, Lord Malfoy, has lost his son.”

“Maybe he’ll betray Voldemort too, now?” Ron suggests, Harry realising that Draco had been the one his Father was referring to.

Draco scoffs, “Yeah, no, not gonna happen. It’s part of that whole complicated thing I was not talking about earlier. Trust me, that won’t be happening.”

“Then what do we do?” Ginny asks the room.

Harry tilts his head to the side slightly, instantly garnering the attention of his Reapers though he cannot see that. “We wait.”

Back at Grimmauld Place, everyone is frantic.

“No one’s got any idea where they might have gone?!” Molly asks desperately.

George cringes in anticipation, “Harry went to meet Malfoy somewhere. He was pretty certain they wouldn’t be found but the others went with him just in case something went wrong.”

“WHY WOULD YOU LET THEM GO?!” Molly yells angrily.

“Because Harry relies on the Malfoys a lot right now, he made the decision to be here with Sirius instead this holidays but you have to understand Mum, this isn’t his home anymore. Despite the fact that he and Malfoy barely get along on the best of days, Harry missed him. And I’m pretty sure he missed Harry too if he was willing to risk it. The others were trying to keep him safe and I stayed behind so that I could tell you all what happened if something went wrong, which I am.” 

Everyone falls silent while they mull that over before Remus sighs, “Draco must have been followed. We have to get them back.”

“We don’t even know where the hell they are,” Tonks points out.

“Harry has consistently gotten in the way of Voldemort’s plans, but he isn’t going to kill him. Which means he’s going to keep them in the most secure place he controls,” Remus replies as he paces back and forth, “And we know where that is,” He says, voice shaking slightly.

“The cell complex where they kept you,” Kingsley says, Remus nods.

“Can you handle this, Lupin?” Moody asks him bluntly.

Remus doesn’t hesitate, “My kid is in there, Alastor. For him, I can handle anything.” He knows that hasn’t always been true, but he’s better than he’s been in a very long time. He feels the same strength and determination fill him that he remembers feeling when he overcame his panic back when Severus was bullying two muggle-born kids. 

Moody recognises the look in his eye and nods. “Welcome back.”

Remus smirks.


	32. The Shadows Find Me Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, fair warning. This chapter is nuts. So, have fun with that.

Chapter 31 – The Shadows Find Me Out

Note: Chapter Title from SJ Tucker’s song ‘Cheshire Kitten’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters, nor do I own _Cheshire Kitten_.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Remus doesn’t hesitate, “My kid is in there, Alastor. For him, I can handle anything.” He knows that hasn’t always been true, but he’s better than he’s been in a very long time. He feels the same strength and determination fill him that he remembers feeling when he overcame his panic back when Severus was bullying two muggle-born kids._

_Moody recognises the look in his eye and nods. “Welcome back.”_

_Remus smirks._

Now,

The Order of the Phoenix, minus Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid, Aberforth, and Severus, move stealthily through the trees, reaching an old bunker type door which they alohomora and climb silently inside.

“Any idea what to expect?” Tonks asks Remus quietly once they are all inside.

“None at all, I was unconscious when Regulus broke me out.” Everyone looks more nervous after that before they steel themselves and move towards the only door in the room. On the door they find a message.

“The mazes within are harder to escape than those of physical reality,” Arthur reads aloud. “You don’t suppose that’s just a metaphor and we won’t actually have to navigate a maze, do you?”

“I sincerely doubt it,” Kingsley responds.

“Surely Death Eaters having to find their way through a maze every time they come here is just a waste of time,” Molly says.

Tonks nods to the wall besides the door where there is the Dark Mark symbol. “I assume that deactivates it, or whatever. Pity we didn’t bring Snape.”

“No one else happens to be an ex-Death Eater and just hasn’t mentioned it?” Remus asks, no one speaks up, “Guess we’re doing this the hard way then.” They enter the room.

Instantly the door behind them disappears.

“Yeah…that figures,” Sturgis says, a sentiment the other Order members cannot help but strongly agree with.

Around the room there are six doors, all of them appearing and disappearing at random. All of a sudden they fall…onto the ceiling.

“Whaaaat the fuck?” Sirius exclaims, sounding almost indignant as he straightens his jacket.

“Literally what is even happening anymore,” Tonks complains, looking down they see the doors continuing to appear and disappear.

Remus frowns as they fall again, to the ground this time.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Mary shouts angrily.

“Please, be louder, I do not believe my sister in France heard you,” Fleur tells her, Mary glares for a moment before she takes a deep breath and calms down. Just in time for them to get flung onto the ceiling again.

Remus sits for a moment, staring at the doors. He mutters under his breath, “Appearing disappearing, hardly innocent nor tied down, to the ground.”

“What was that?” Elphias questions.

Remus frowns, “Nothing, lets just move closer to a door and when gravity inverts again we’ll rush through it before it can disappear.” They all do so and when it happens, they all make it through.

They end up in a hallway, luckily staying on the floor this time. They all sigh with relief. However, when Mary moves forward Mad-Eye yanks her back just before she’s fried to a crisp by the ball of fire that fires at her. Everyone draws their wands, only to find nothing there.

“Someone really wants people kept out,” Hestia comments, the others nod.

“I learnt to roll and tumble with the punches, glory in my stripes and spots,” Remus mutters before he leaps forward, rolling under the fire ball before standing again, confused when nothing else attacks him.

“Erm, how the fuck did you know that would work?” Sirius asks his partner.

Remus doesn’t answer, frowning in confusion, “Punches, should be something about punches.” He takes a step forward when suddenly something hits him from the side and he tumbles to the ground. He turns just in time to see what looks like giant muggle boxing gloves retreat back towards the wall before disappearing just prior to hitting the wall.

“And how did you know that?” Sirius questions.

Remus sighs, “Call it a hunch.” He holds a hand out ahead of him, below his hand spikes rise from the floor. He nods, moving back. He avoids the glove and rolls under the fireball again as he returns to the group. “I don’t think we’re gonna be able to predict this well enough to make it through,” He says.

“Remus, you obviously know something, now what the fuck is going on?” Mary demands of him.

“When Bellatrix died, Draco watched it happen. He gave Severus his memory of it, wanting me to know that she had died defying Voldemort, not following him. The memory started with Bellatrix singing a song, one that is fitting well with what is happening now. I think she knew we’d end up here at some point, I think she knew Draco was watching, I think she was trying to warn us and help us through this.”

“That…seems like a bit of a leap,” Sturgis tells him hesitantly, worried about setting off a panic attack at what would have to be one of the absolute worst times for one.

“I grew up seeing things a little differently, Appearing disappearing hardly innocent nor tied down, to the ground. I learnt to roll and tumble with the punches, glory in my stripes and spots,” Remus recites without the melody. “Look, I don’t know, it’s just a theory, and I know it’s based on some pretty weak logic.”

“It’s been accurate so far, I say we run with it. We don’t have another option here,” Tonks says, “We have to try something.”

“What’s the next line of the song?” Arthur asks him.

“Walk by invisible and never make a sound.”

Moody looks at the hallway contemplatively, “It’s sound and motion activated.”

“Well great, how the bloody hell do we get past that?” Mundungus asks.

Sirius snickers earning incredulous looks, “Sorry, it’s just, if only someone had been irritated into finding out how to alter an invisibility cloak to mask sounds as well,” He says, gesturing for Remus to pass him his newly made cloak that he knows is shrunken down in his pocket.

Remus passes it over as he rolls his eyes, “Oh please, you were not irritated into doing it, you were just trying to impress me.”

“I wanted you to think I was smart so you’d pay more attention to me!” Sirius defends earning a look from Remus that strongly suggests he’s behaving like an adorable idiot. “I was eleven, shut up.” Several snickers from various order members are heard. “You guys suck,” Sirius complains as he works on charming the cloak, “At least I didn’t learn an entire fucking language.” 

Remus glares at him, “Paskapää.”

“Literally how did you not even notice you were in love and so was he,” Tonks asks, shaking her head at Remus who huffs.

“Is now really the time?”

“Not at all, because this should work now,” Sirius tells them, holding up the invisibility cloak.

“If this fails, and it gets set on fire, I want the record to show it was Sirius’ fault, not mine,” Remus says sternly before putting the cloak on, missing the amusement and overwhelming fondness in Sirius’ eyes. Nobody moves and keeps their breathing as silent as possible for a solid two minutes before Remus reappears in front of them. “Made it all the way to the end of the hall.”

“Great, you can ferry everyone across one at a time,” Moody tells him, which is exactly what happens until the whole group is on the other side of the hallway. Just before he opens the next door, Moody pauses and looks at Remus. “What’s the next bit of that song?”

“But heavy is the crown that’s always hidden. Tender is the heart you never see. Hard and fast shines the grin that we flash, but there’s a vulnerable stripe or two in me. Maybe any place outside of Wonderland is not for me my friend.”

Moody thinks that over for a minute before he nods and opens the door. The group moves in.

“Well, there’s the crown part,” Tonks comments as they immediately find a crown on a podium.

“Great, what do we do with it?” Bill asks them all to see if anyone has any ideas.

“Look at the doors, there’s an engraving of a person wearing a crown on all of them,” Fleur points out after regarding the three doors on the farthest wall for a moment.

“So someone has to wear the crown?” Mary asks before moving to pick up the crown.

“Wait!” Molly tells her, “‘Never see’ and ‘hidden’, the first and second line both refer to a similar idea, what if they are connected?”

“What does a tender heart got to do with a crown?” Hestia questions.

“Responsibility is heavy on those with tender hearts, they’re sensitive, big decisions are hard,” Sturgis replies, his brow creased in thought

“So, what, you think someone with a tender heart has to wear the crown?” Arthur asks, looking around the room as he does, trying to find any other clues.

Sturgis sighs, “I don’t know, but I think Molly is right, there’s more to it than someone wearing the crown.”

“If we needed a tender heart, we brought the wrong group of people,” Moody points out gruffly.

“Fleur?” Molly suggests.

Fleur rolls her eyes at that, “I am dainty, not weak.”

“Remus, no offense intended, is sort of easy to render vulnerable these days, perhaps that could be enough?” Sturgis suggests as delicately as possible, but Mary shakes her head instantly.

“He might be afraid of it and in denial, but that strength is still inside him. We saw it when he refused to be left behind because his child needed him.”

“I am right here, you know,” Remus complains, looking quite uncomfortable. Sirius takes his hand comfortingly.

Moody looks over consideringly, “We can’t find a tender heart, all we can do is find the tenderest heart among us. And what says a tender heart more than a hopeless romantic who has spent 20 years pining over the one he loves and never grown bitter about it?”

“Bitch I ain’t tender!” Sirius claims indignantly.

“Did I hurt your feelings, Black?” Moody challenges.

Sirius pouts, “No,” He replies, completely lying.

“Oh for the love of God, Sirius, Marlene told me why you two broke up when we were teenagers,” Mary snaps, Sirius’ eyes widen. Remus looks at him in confusion as he mutters under his breath about ‘entirely different circumstances’ and ‘having emotions doesn’t mean your sensitive or whatever’.

“Yep, you’re up,” Tonks tells him, shoving him over towards the podium.

“Never thought I’d be glad James is dead, if he were here to see it I would never live this down.”

“You’re never living it down anyway,” Bill tells him, earning a glare before Sirius picks up the crown and places it on his head.

“Great, now which door?” Sirius asks before suddenly being tackled by something. He looks up to find five large creatures that he couldn’t identify for the life of him attacking everyone. As soon as he stands and backs slowly towards the three doors again, the creatures all turn their focus to him.

“The stripes!” Tonks suddenly yells after thinking frantically, “‘There’s a vulnerable stripe or two on me’, they’ve all got stripes on their backs, aim for them!”

“Sirius, focus on the doors, we’ll hold them off!” Remus tells him.

“Is anyone else creeped out by the fact that they won’t stop grinning?!” Tonks shouts.

Sirius turns back to the doors, focusing on them intently as he searches them for any clue as to which door they should go through. There are labels above each door. “Granny’s House. The Land of Oz. Wonderland.” Sirius frowns, “Aren’t those muggle fairytales?”

“Anytime now, Sirius!” Hestia calls.

Sirius rolls his eyes before focusing again, “Why would famously blood purists use muggle fairytales?” His eyes widen as he remembers how Remus had been broken out of here before. “Regulus got him out but it’s Severus that planned it. Severus who was Voldemort’s most trusted, Severus who is a half-blood, Severus who grew up with the fairytale obsessed Lily Evans.” Sirius rubs a hand over his face, “That doesn’t help. Okay, the song, what was in the song?” Sirius calls the question out to the group.

“But heavy is the crown that’s always hidden. Tender is the heart you never see. Hard and fast shines the grin that we flash, but there’s a vulnerable stripe or two in me. Maybe any place outside of Wonderland is not for me my friend,” Moody recites, noticing Remus has a heavy paw on his throat and sending Bill and Arthur to help him. He also notices Fleur and Molly fighting side-by-side and hopes that the stupid amount of angst in the house will lessen now.

“Wonderland!” Sirius realises, going over to the door marked ‘Wonderland’ and opening it. “Got it!”

Everyone keeps fighting as they hurry to the door, slamming it closed once they are all through and instantly being shut into pitch blackness. “It was Severus. He made the maze,” Sirius tells them all, “Back when he was still Voldemort’s most trusted Death Eater.”

Remus huffs, “Of course he did.”

“Lumos,” Moody, Bill, and Mary cast at the same time, but none of them work.

“Some how I’m not surprised your blood traitors can’t handle a simple spell, Sirius.”

Sirius freezes in the dark, “Erm, did anyone else…?”

“Hear your dead mother talking? Yes, yes we did,” Remus replies.

“Oh, okay,” Sirius says, voice shaking. They hear a familiar mad cackle that has Remus instantly in panic mode.

“Bellatrix?” Mary calls into the dark.

“Welcome back, Remy!” Bellatrix’s voice says madly. Remus hears a giggle right next to his ear and jerks away, ending up on the floor. “I’ve missed you, my beautiful, broken toy. Do your friends bleed, Remy? We could make them bleed together.”

Remus shoves his hands over his ears, breathing heavily. He feels hands on his back and whimpers. “It’s okay, Remus, it’s just me,” Molly’s voice says near him. He calms down fractionally. “I’ve got him,” She calls to the rest of the room. As though that were the catalyst, over voices piped up, clearly intended for individual people.

“You should have saved us, Molly. The rest of your family will die too,” The dual voices of Gideon and Fabian Prewett tell their sister.

“You lied to me, Dad!” Says Jamie’s voice, “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?!”

“Sirius!” Regulus’ terrified voice screams in terror.

“Reg!” Sirius calls back, feeling panic and loss fill his being.

“Sturgis…how could you leave me behind?” The agonized voice of Caradoc Dearborn asks.

“I’m sorry,” Sturgis whispers brokenly.

Remus breathes unsteadily hearing all of this and coming to one conclusion, “Nightmares,” He states, voice thick with so many emotions he’s not sure he can even feel them all, “They’re just nightmares.”

“He’s right, we have to keep going,” Tonks them all, trying her best to ignore her Mother screaming about stupid risks and a failure of a daughter.

“Leaving so soon? Why bother, you know that no matter where you go, no matter what you do, you’ll never really escape this place, Remy,” Bellatrix tells him, “How sure are you that you ever really left?”

“Oh, you bitch, don’t even go there!” Mary yells into the dark. Molly yanks Remus up, pulling him along down the hallway. A door opens at the other end and suddenly they can all see. Fleur made it to the end, though all can see the tear marks on her face and remember the sounds of her sister dying that rung throughout the room. They exit the hallway and gladly shut that door behind them, everyone taking a minute to catch their breath, Remus sinking to the floor against a wall with his knees pulled up to his chest.

“Lupin, you good?” Moody asks, knowing that if he’s lost it again they can’t get the rest of the song and they may well be fucked from here on out. 

Remus shakes his head marginally from where it is buried in hands and knees, “Gimme a minute,” He requests wetly.

Moody nods, looking around the new area. There are two directions, and no clues around as to which one they should take. He hears a deep breath be let out and turns to see Remus uncurling himself though looking pale and shaky. Mad-Eye can tell that he might be helpful logically, but his ability to fight has just been shot to hell and his ‘tactical mode’ will be buried under fear again. The steel in his eyes earlier that had Moody allowing him to come along has faded entirely. He’s frustrated, but he knows no one could have predicted what just occurred.

“What part of the song did that cover?” Molly asks quietly.

Remus flinches slightly from having to think of Bellatrix again so soon after that experience. “Um…I-I don’t…” Remus takes another deep breath, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes for a moment before he swallows harshly and nods, removing his hands again. “I don’t know.” He looks around, proper thought slowly coming back to him, “A choice of direction, so if this is the bit about left and right, then that last part should cover all of that…” He trails off for a moment as his brows furrow, trying to remember that section of the song, “If I leave my grin behind remind me, That we ’ re all mad here, And it ’ s okay. Sun up, sun down, the shadows hide me down in Wonderland, Wonderland, nobody knows the way, But if you find it in your dreams, you can find it at your day job, Somewhere south of Hell.”

“Shadows, madness, nobody knows the way, dreams and hell, it fits,” Kingsley admits, “She could’ve been a bit more straightforward about it though.”

“When was Trixie ever straight forward about anything?” Remus asks, standing up.

“I don’t know, when she snogged you the first time you met it was pretty blunt and to the point,” Sirius points out, Remus nods his acquiescence.

“That’s how you met Aunt Bella?” Tonks asks, laughing.

Remus laughs too, though shakily, as he nods. “Yep, and then she followed me for a while until I agreed to a picnic by the lake.”

“I still can’t believe you did that,” Sirius mutters with fake unhappiness. All he can really feel right now is disbelief at this jovial conversation involving Remus and about Bellatrix. Especially considering how he had been a mere moment prior.

“We should move on, I don’t like staying in one place too long,” Bill tells them all, they all agree.

“What does the song say about left and right?” Elphias asks, remembering Remus mentioning it earlier.

“Take the path to left or right with just your gut to guide you, The story is not for anyone else to tell,” Remus replies.

“Well then, what does everyone’s gut say?” Arthur asks.

“Left.” “Right.” Tonks and Mundungus look at each other in despair.

“Then we split up, everyone follow your gut,” Moody orders, moving towards the right. “What’s the next part of the song?”

“Go down the rabbit hole and out the other side, You can’t go home in the middle of the magic carpet ride. You gotta greet the Sun before his lovely daughter Moon, You can’t forsake the journey for the safety of your room, Until you learn, your lesson well.”

“Is splitting up a good idea?” Sturgis asks uncertainly.

“The story is not for anyone else to tell,” Remus repeats, “We have to make the decision ourselves and follow our own gut.”

Everyone, some more hesitantly than others, choose their direction, and the two groups head off. Remus and Moody, being in different groups, nod to each other before they walk their different ways. Going left is Remus, Fleur, Arthur, Mundungus, Tonks, and Bill. Going right is Moody, Sirius, Mary, Elphias, Sturgis, Molly, Kingsley, and Hestia.

Soon after, the Left Group come to a dead end wall, with a hole at the base of it barely big enough to fit an adult.

“Down a rabbit hole, eh?” Mundungus asks exasperatedly.

“Someone’s really gotta talk to Professor Snape about this fairytale fetish of his,” Tonks says, somehow maintaining entirely serious composure.

“Right, let’s get this over with,” Remus declares. The group crawl into the hole one by one.

The Right group also come across a dead end of sorts. It does continue, but the ledge to do so is too high up for anyone to reach and none of their levitating spells are working.

Mary looks at the large carpet on the floor, “Sirius, you said something about fairytales, didn’t you?”

Sirius nods, “Yes, I think Severus based a lot of this maze off of them.”

“Right, everyone get on the carpet, lay down, and hold the fuck on,” Mary tells them, everyone does so. Almost instantly it lifts off and starts flying. “God I wish Lily was here for this!” Mary exclaims, “Don’t let go!” Mary calls just before the carpet starts making some in _sane_ movements as it flies.

“Is this a bad time to mention I get motion sick?” Elphias asks. The others look at him with slowly dawning horror.

“I’m very quickly regretting my choice of direction,” Arthur mutters as they keep crawling, creepy indistinct voices whispering all around them.

“Yeah this isn’t really ideal, is it?” Mundungus agrees.

“We aren’t going back!” Remus says before Mundungus can even get the sentence out.

“Whatever the others are doing, can’t be worse than this,” Bill says making Tonks reach forward, over Fleur, to hit him.

“Why would you jinx that?!”

“I didn’t cast any jinx!” Bill defends.

“Not that kind of – oh never mind.”

“Does anyone else see that?” Fleur asks, stopping her crawl to point at a side of the tunnel. The others look over but see nothing more than the same dirt tunnel they’ve been looking at for the last ten minutes.

“What are you seeing?”

“A doll, my doll, from when I was a little girl,” Fleur explains.

“Seems like the sort of thing to be ignored,” Arthur suggests, they all agree and continue their crawl.

The carpet finally set down in another hallway, two large tapestries adorn the wall. One of day, and one of night.

“That is the single worst thing to have ever happened,” Sirius states. Then Elphias throws up in the corner of the room, Mary rubbing his back gently.

“Think you spoke too soon, Black,” Moody tells him gruffly.

“What do you suppose that is?” Hestia asks, looking at a hole in the base of the opposite wall.

“Beats me,” Sirius replies.

Remus closes his eyes against the objects slowly becoming more frequent in the tunnel, the others struggling to avoid touching them as well until finally Remus feels a change in texture below his hands and opens his eyes to see Sirius looking at him in confusion. “Oh thank fuck,” Remus says, getting up and immediately kissing Sirius.

“Fresh air! My old friend!” Tonks says dramatically as she exits the tunnel behind Fleur.

“Oh, is this really necessary? Ought to be moving along, right?” Mundungus asks as Sirius and Remus continue kissing.

At last, Remus pulls back breathing deeply as he rests his forehead against Sirius’.

“What was that for?” Sirius asks, not moving away from him.

“Being separated from you in this place was nerve-wracking,” Remus explains, “You lot didn’t have to do anything too difficult did you?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle,” Molly replies simply. 

Elphias pukes again.

“Riiight, anyway, shall we continue?” Remus suggests, moving towards the tapestries without letting go of Sirius’ hand.

“How long do you suppose we’ve been at this?” Tonks asks.

“Well, we’d just woken up and had breakfast when we started, and I don’t know about you lot but I am hungry and tired, so I have to assume it has been a good few hours,” Molly tells them, all agreeing with her logic.

“If we are gone longer than 24 hours help will be sent,” Remus tells the others.

“You think this’ll take that long?” Hestia asks.

“Fuck I hope not.”

“Gotta greet the sun before his lovely daughter moon,” Kingsley says under his breath as he looks at the tapestries.

“Okay, easy enough,” Tonks states.

“What, no-” Kingsley starts saying, but not quick enough.

“Hello, Sun. Hello, Sun’s lovely daughter Moon.”

Remus facepalms, “I don’t think that’s what the song means, Tonks.”

Tonks glares at him and huffs, “Well, you dated Aunt Bella for like half your life and you were married to Professor Snape for almost a decade so, what do you think? What would Snape have made, and what is Aunt Bella’s song referring to?”

“I did not date her for half my life,” Remus denies even as he scrutinises the tapestries.

Sirius tilts his head to the side in thought, quite reminiscent of Padfoot. “Huh, it really was only 6 years all up. Well, like 5 and a half or something anyway.”

“Can we move on from this?!” Remus asks, voice suddenly shaking slightly. Everyone wisely backs off the topic.

“Okay, let’s just take a look,” Hestia suggests, walking over and looking behind the tapestry of the night time. “Okay there’s a door,” Hestia tells them as she moves further behind the tapestry, “But it appears to be locked.”

“So presumably the key has something to do with the day tapestry if we need to ‘greet the sun’ before the moon,” Fleur says, the others nodding.

“Now hold on,” Molly says, frowning at the tapestry, “Haven’t we been in this position before? Trying to find something Severus had hidden for you-know-who but believing he wouldn’t have hidden well from us?”

“Right, the mattress,” Sturgis nods, remembering the odd mission from the first war when they had first discovered Severus’ deal with Roana Gaunt.

“Right he’d hidden the map within a mattress because he knew Lily and James would remember whatever conversation it is that they had had about hiding things in mattresses like the true weirdos those three were,” Sirius explains for the benefit of the newbies.

“If he’s going a similar way won’t that same enchantment that you knew how to get passed be on the tapestry as well?” Elphias asks Remus as the details of said mission begin coming back to him.

Remus nods as he walks towards the day tapestry, waving his hand along it, just shy of touching it, and feeling the power of that enchantment. He breaks it, causing it too glow purple for a moment before it fades away. 

“Anybody got a knife to cut into this thing?” Bill asks as he feels around the tapestry. He feels the outline of a key in the sun, which reminds him of the song lyrics and makes him realise that he really should’ve checked this spot first.

“We’ve got a man who can turn into a dog whenever he likes?” Arthur offers. Sirius’ whole face lights up and, as Remus suspected it would, his tail is wagging when he transforms to Padfoot.

Padfoot immediately leaps at the tapestry, getting his claws in it and dragging the whole thing off of its mount and onto the floor, covering the dog in the process.

Remus sighs as the whimpering starts, going over and pulling the Tapestry away, “You daft Mutt, what did you think was going to happen?” Padfoot looks up at him with a chastised expression on his dog-face. “No, don’t give me the eyes!” The eyes widen. “Oh just wreck this thing, will you?” Remus says as he chucks the tapestry to the floor. Padfoot bounds over and onto it, finding the sun and biting and digging but unfortunately not making a lot of progress. He looks up and barks at Remus a few times along with some whimpers and other noises. Remus facepalms for a moment, “Sirius, you’re a dog, you aren’t currently actually talking.” Tonks reaches the end of her control and loses her shit laughing which sets Bill off. Sirius growls at the both of them before getting off the tapestry, bitting a side of it and dragging it to Remus. He then grabs Mundungus’ pants leg and pulls him to the other end of the tapestry.

“Oh, it keeps moving so he can’t rip it, you’ve got to pull it tight,” Molly suggests. “I work with fabric a lot,” She explains to the bewildered looks.

Remus and Mundungus hold the tapestry taut as Padfoot rips into the sun. No one can really see if he’s doing damage or not, but he soon gets off, running a lap of the room before going back to Remus and dropping the key at his feet.

Remus kneels down, “Good boy,” He tells him, scratching his head as he picks up the key. Padfoot nuzzles into him before Remus stands back up and Sirius turns back into a human.

“You think I’m a good boy?” Sirius asks him teasingly.

Remus rolls his eyes, “Well you’re the tender-hearted one.” Tonks starts laughing again while Hestia unlocks the door behind the night tapestry.

The group all gladly head through.

“Hey, how long is this song, exactly?” Tonks asks, her and Remus the last to head through the door though Sirius is right in front of Remus and holding his hand.

Remus cringes slightly, “We’re like, halfway through, assuming the chorus is somehow still relevant despite it repeating?”

“Which implies there are multiple ways to interpret all of this and we’re damned lucky we’ve made it this far,” Tonks says. Remus nods before he realises something. He looks forward, but Sirius is not there, and nothing is holding his hand. He turns back just in time to see Tonks walk through a door. He sees another door, feels drawn towards it, and enters without a second thought.

“Daddy, Daddy, do the magic, do the magic!” Remus looks up in shock at his sister’s voice. He’s met with a toddler version of Phia, their Father, young, and using magic to make small colourful sparks, much to the delight of his daughter. They are sat in front of the lit fireplace, a young Hope sat behind them on the sitting chair with a baby in her arms. Remus’ breath catches as he realises it’s his baby brother.

“Ah, Remus, come here sweetheart,” Hope prompts, gesturing for him to come sit at her feet as he had when he was a child.

He slowly moves to do so, and as soon as he sits, she strokes his hair lightly and starts telling him old Welsh stories that her father had told her. Then his brother starts crying, and Remus is shocked to realise he doesn’t know the baby’s name. The family never spoke of him, there are pictures but no name with them, and Remus only remembers him referred to when he was alive in ways like ‘Remus, grab a nappy for your brother, please,’ and other such phrases. As his mother bounces and shushes the baby, and Lyall moves over to help, Remus realises that neither of them are referring to his brother by name. They don’t know it either, because this isn’t real.

Remus feels tears on his face as he kneels up and takes the baby from his mother, gently calming him as he had Jamie, Benni, Sevrin, Dora, Draco, and all the kids he has been around. “I am so sorry, little brother. But I love you very much, and I hold you close to my heart always,” he tells the child, feeling the locket Eleenie had given him for this purpose heavy around his neck. He feels a pressure in his mind and recognises it as Moony wishing to come forward. He allows it, fading back as Moony takes control of their body.

“It wasn’t your fault, Remus,” Moony says as he looks at the child, “And they never blamed you. You have to stop blaming yourself.” Moony hands the infant back to Hope. “I know you hate me,” Moony says, looking between Lyall and Hope, “And I understand why. But please know, that for this, for what happened to him, no one hates me more than I hate myself. And I will suffer for it for the rest of my days. It is the only penance I can give.” He fades back, allowing Remus to take control again.

“It wasn’t your fault either, Moons. They may not understand, but I do, and I forgive you.” Remus looks at the door, feeling an immense pull to stay behind, but as he glances at his brother again he is reminded of his own son, his son who needs his help. He walks away from his family and out the door.

“Remus! You made it out!” Molly calls as he emerges. He finds everyone looking a little worse for wear but largely whole. Only it isn’t everyone. Sirius has yet to emerge.

“Where is he?” Remus asks immediately. Moody points to a door a little ways down the hall and without hesitation, without giving anyone a chance to stop him, he walks through it.

Sirius sits on the ground beneath the tree at Hogwarts where the group used to hang out, and sure enough, the group surrounds him.

Remus is shocked to see himself there, but more so at the fact that this memory is from when he and Bellatrix were together in their later years at Hogwarts. They’re cuddling as the group all talks.

“I’m just saying, if you don’t think Bowie is a genius and a God, then I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life,” Lily is saying to Marlene who rolls her eyes. Lily and Sirius high-five.

“Well that’s got to be one of the few times you’ve high-fived him willingly,” Frank comments, the whole group laughing at that.

“I don’t know why anyone would do that,” Bellatrix says earning a glare from her cousin before they both laugh again.

“I remember this,” Remus says, startling Sirius into looking over.

“Remus?” He asks, looking to young Remus in confusion, but the younger him doesn’t seem to have heard him.

Adult Remus walks over and sits behind him, putting his arms around him. “I wouldn’t have expected you to be in a memory with that,” He says, nodding at himself and Bellatrix.

Sirius shrugs, “She was your soulmate. I can’t make you as happy as she was, and all I’ve ever wanted is you to wear the kind of smile only she could bring out in you.” 

Remus looks at his younger self and does indeed see a bright smile as the two gaze at each other. Remus frowns, leaning his head into Sirius’ shoulder. “I know this isn’t what you imagined when you thought about us being together. You wanted him, not an alcoholic with severe PTSD. I wish I could be him, but I can’t.” Remus takes a deep breath, “I don’t smile like that, I know. But Sirius, you do make me happy. I…I struggle to express happiness now, I don’t really know why, but it’s hard for me to show when I am happy.” He strengthens his hold on Sirius, “But never doubt that I feel it.”

Sirius looks down sadly, “Everything was better here. We were safe. Now everyone is always in danger and I worry what would happen to you if something happened to me again. And then there’s my kids, Hermione’s constantly worried I’ll stop caring about her at some point, Harry barely acknowledges my existence half the time. I know I fucked up by leaving them, by not coming back, but I’m here now and how can I protect them when they won’t let me?”

“Believe me, I know that feeling. Jamie hasn’t let me look after her since she was six-years-old and first decided she could do that herself. Then I utterly failed to protect my own family and I lost my own son,” Remus says, voice tightening as he thinks of Sevrin. “Your kids will probably always struggle to accept you after the lives they have lived, and you have to understand that after everything they’ve been through the last few years, they’re used to saving themselves. But if you make sure you are there for them, sooner or later they will start looking to you for help and support. Right now they are in danger and really need your help. We can’t help them from in here.”

Sirius nods, taking a deep breath and standing up when Remus offers him a hand.

“You all right, Sirius?” James asks him.

“No,” Sirius replies, “But I think I will be,” He says, holding Remus’ hand.

“We’ll always be here for you,” Alice tells him, the others all nodding.

Sirius smiles, “I know.”

The two exit the room, Sirius instantly pulling Mary into a hug.

“Oh, hello, yes I know I’m lovable but that door is still looking very good and I would love to move on before I just say fuck-it-all and return to camping with my parents,” Mary says, sounding like she’s joking about it, but Sirius sees the tears in her eyes as he pulls away.

“Yeah, let’s go. We’ve got to be getting close now,” Sirius remarks.

As they make it to the end of the hallway of doors, there is one door at the end that does not entice any of them, and they assume that must be their way out. 

“Merlin’s saggy ballsack!” Tonks exclaims as she yanks on the door with her entire body weight before leaning forward and dropping her head against it several times.

“It is locked?” Fleur asks, mild despair in her voice as she looks back at ‘her’ door.

“Are you kidding me?” Sirius’ voice comes. They all turn to look at him and see him looking unimpressed at Remus as he takes a swig of a flask.

“Be happy I made it this long.”

Sirius huffs at him, but smirks as he sees Molly walking up and taking the flask from him.

“Your children, his children, and my children, are relying on us to rescue them, Remus,” She tells him, looking him in the eye. He cringes slightly, looking at the flask as he bites his lip. Then he nods, scratching the back of his neck before walking over to the door and clearing his throat, purposefully not looking back to Molly.

“Fuck Severus and his god damned Latin. Sirius, please tell me you can translate this?” Remus asks, pointing to the engraving circling the door.

Sirius walks over, looking intently for a moment, “I can try. Got a pen, bit of paper?” Remus hands both things over causing Mary to snicker.

“You still do that?”

“It’s still bloody useful.”

“What is a p-en?” Fleur asks quizzically, sounding out the word slightly in a way none of them had heard because her English is fantastic. But then, why would French wizards have taught her a muggle word for a muggle object in English.

Sirius grins, holding it up, “Come check it out, it is the greatest invention since toilet paper.”

“Charming,” Bill mutters as Fleur takes a seat beside Sirius on the floor and watches with interest as he writes, attempting to translate the writing on the wall.

It’s fifteen minutes later that Remus is fiddling with his invisibility cloak and his wand to try and lift the complex silencing magic that Sirius had put on to it, insisting, when asked, that it takes the skill out of marauding.

“Shit, shit, shit!” He suddenly exclaims, throwing the cloak, currently being engulfed by flame, onto the floor and stamping on it until the fire goes out. He looks up at the exasperated looks of the entire Order and flushes slightly. “No one tell Sev or Lucius about that?” They all just sigh or roll their eyes. He picks up the cloak, shaking it a little before deeming it a lost cause and shrinking it to put it back into his pocket.

Sirius suddenly scoffs, shaking his head, “Yeah, okay, the translation is a little off but I can still tell you exactly what that fucking bastard was writing.”

“Well, what was it?” Tonks asks when Sirius does nothing but glare at the page for a few moments.

“Why is a Raven like a writing desk?” Sirius recites in an irritated voice. The room collectively grumbles. None of them were Ravenclaws. 

But Bill smirks and clears his throat, walking up to the door. “Neither of them can swim.” The door opens with the loudest creak imaginable in a way that seems to convey a general feeling of ‘you aren’t wrong but that is _so_ not the answer I was looking for’. They move in, the door slams behind them before anyone can even try to close it.

Sirius suddenly hears himself.

_“Hagrid, it’s me.”_

His eyes widen, “No, no, no, no, no,” He chants as he moves further into the room.

“Sirius?” Elphias calls in concern, stepping towards him slightly.

_“Mr Black, Headmaster Dumbledore sent me. Says I’m supposed to take the boy so he will be safe while he sorts everything out.”_

“You don’t hear that?” Sirius whispers in fright and guilt and so many other things.

_“Right, right, um, here, take my bike. Harrison, I will be back, okay?”_

“How can you not hear it?” Sirius asks, voice choked in grief, not noticing the others now reacting to things no others can hear.

_“Dada!”_

“HARRISON! NO!” Sirius screams in despair.

_“I will be back.”_

“No, you won’t, you won’t, don’t go, don’t leave him!” Sirius begs though he can see that there is nothing in this room beside the Order.

_“Dada! DADA!”_

“HARRY!” Sirius snaps out of it momentarily when he hears Remus scream for someone named ‘Sevrin’ a name he has heard several times now and never gotten an explanation for. “It’s not real,” he tells himself, “It’s not real.” He clears his throat, trying to block out the noise of Godric’s Hollow repeating itself again, and again, and again as he abandons his child again, and again, and again. He shakes his head rapidly, “WE NEED TO KEEP MOVING!” He yells at the others, some of whom respond, most don’t. He goes around shaking people until they pay attention to him again. He drags them towards the other side of the room only to find it blocked by Del. Based on several gasped names, he knows everyone is seeing someone different. Sirius wonders who ‘Heidi’ is when Remus whispers her name, but is quickly distracted by Del speaking.

“You left our son,” Del tells him, “You don’t deserve to be with him now.”

Sirius looks at her, distraught, before remembering something James once said. _‘You think you don’t deserve family because the Blacks hated you? Well fuck you, because I deserve a brother!’_ Sirius swallows harshly, “Maybe not, but Harry deserves to be with me. His Dad, who loves him.”

“Tom waged two wars to get Harry back, what have you done but run and hide?”

Sirius smiles sadly, “Well I’m going through hell now to rescue him. What I did in the past will always stand against me, but what I do now counts for something too.” Sirius walks through Del and opens the door. She disappears.

It takes some longer than others, but sooner or later they all make it to the door, knowing yet frustrated by the fact that they cannot help each other reach the door, they all have to overcome what is holding them back. Remus’ face is blank and empty when he does so, but tears are in his eyes which gives the others the impression that he is trying very hard to feel nothing right now.

“Let’s go,” Moody directs quietly, surprisingly obvious in how shaken he is by what just happened. They all wonder how much help to the kids they’ll even be by the time they get to the end of this. Remus mutters ‘God-Father duties’ under his breath before he steps through the door and finds himself in utter blackness again, only this time he can’t hear anyone or anything either, including the other Order members. Mildly disconcerting to him, though he knows the others may not notice it, he cannot smell anything either. No smells, no scents, nothing. He takes a deep breath that he cannot hear and starts blindly moving forward, trying to reach the door that he is hoping is down the end of the rather large hallway.

It may be silent in the hallway, but Remus’ head is another matter, and his mind takes the opportunity of losing Remus’ other senses to make him think of everything he tries not to. He pushes it back, fuck does he try to push it back, but he suddenly feels like he can’t breathe and he resents Molly for having taken his flask from him. He holds a hand to the wall to hold him up, trying to push forward, when suddenly light fills the hall and he sees Molly at the end by the open door, breathing heavily but okay.

“Mary!” Tonks calls, running back to the other end of the hall to where Mary is on the ground just inside the door. Mary mutters something but the others can’t hear it. Tonks holds her, “Greyback isn’t here, you aren’t there. Come on, look up, see what’s going on.” The others realise the dark and the quiet must have reminded Mary of the cell she was kept in for so many years. They’re more than a little surprised, now that they think of it, that her claustrophobia hadn’t been set off yet. That, or she’s done a bloody good job of hiding it. Mary slowly stands, shaking and leaning on Tonks, but moving forward, always forward.

“Before we go through, all of this would have been easier if we’d gotten the clue from the song before we went through. So what’s the rest of it? Just in case we go through several places before we get the chance to stop again,” Arthur asks Remus.

Remus doesn’t speak for a moment, a wide and frightened look in his eyes as he tries to breathe deeply.

“Come on Remy, one panic attack per person per room, Mary’s already filled the slot,” Bill tries with false jocularity.

Sirius tries to step towards Remus but freezes when he flinches back slightly.

“We don’t have time for this,” Moody declares, grabbing the flask from Molly and hobbling down before shoving it at Remus who stares for a moment before recognising it, taking it, and downing the rest of the contents.

Sirius gives Moody the bitchiest of all bitchfaces, “What the absolute _fuck_ do you _think_ you’re doing?”

“What’s necessary to save your bloody kids,” Moody replies, “Lupin, what’s the rest of the song?”

Remus takes a deep breath, steadier than before, “That’s how it is in songs you see and stripes always looked good on me, Whether or not I’m really there. Heavy is the burden of the wise ones, When no one understands a word they say. The Jabberwok never bothered anyone but nobody believes him to this day, And why should they? If I leave my grin behind remind me, That we’re all mad here, And it’s okay. Sun up, sun down the shadows find me out in Wonderland, Wonderland, nobody knows the way, But if you find it in your dreams, you can find it at your day job, Somewhere south of Hell. Take the path to left or right with just your gut to guide you, The story is not for anyone else to tell. You gotta go down the rabbit hole and out the other side, You can’t go home in the middle of the magic carpet ride. You gotta greet the sun before his lovely daughter moon. You can’t forsake the journey for the safety of your room until you learn, Your lesson, well. Is it the stripes or the spots you see, Was it hearts or diamonds baby brought you here to me? Darling, you know better than to trust a pack of cards! What have we learned? The world is never as mad as it could be, never as mad as it could be! If I leave my grin behind remind me, That we’re all mad here, And it’s okay. If I leave my grin behind remind me, That we’re all mad here, And it’s okay. If I leave my grin behind remind me, That we’re all mad here, And it’s okay.” Everyone stares at him in silence.

“That is a lot of rooms,” Sturgis comments.

“Maybe the repeating parts are just to make it seem more like a song so she wouldn’t be caught,” Tonks suggests hopefully.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Moody says gruffly.

“But we can hope,” Sirius replies tersely.

“Tender heart,” Mary mutters, smiling slightly.

Sirius huffs but leads Remus forwards by the elbow as they all walk on.

Nobody quite knows how to describe what happens in the next room. First they see the things they want more than anything, then those things warp and twist and colours change and it’s like they’re tripping on drugs that don’t even exist. And all through it those things they want are just out of reach.

“You know better than to trust a pack of cards. Never as mad as it could be.” Mundungus mutters, “We can’t trust it, we need to reject it,” He says louder so that the others can hear over whatever the fuck all this mess even is. “I don’t want it!” Mundungus shouts to his hallucinations which, as he keeps going, fade more and more. The others follow his lead until finally, the path to the door is free. They head out it, only to find themselves faced with…

“Ninjas?” Mary asks incredulously.

“From the Ninja gakkō I assume,” Sturgis states.

“The what now?” Mary asks.

“Ninja school, it’s Japan’s version of Hogwarts. So you know how Ninja legends include lots of poisons and disappearing and various things masking escapes. It’s all magic that muggles couldn’t understand. They didn’t have quite so strong laws about using magic on Muggles over there, still don’t actually. Essentially, so long as a Muggle does not believe in magic and you do not change that, free reign,” Sirius explains, “To help control their magic they are trained in discipline from a young age, and how is discipline commonly taught in Japan?”

Mary sighs, “Martial Arts.”

“Hence, the Ninjas.”

The ninjas pull out swords but make no move forward, parting as Death Eaters and then Voldemort himself walk passed them.

“Stupefy!” Voldemort immediately casts at the still rather out of Remus who utterly fails to block it and as such falls to the ground like a heap of Drop Bear shit. “I do trust that you realise resistance is futile at this point, yes?” Voldemort asks. The Order Members exchange looks, knowing they are battered from the maze and vastly outnumbered. Plus, Ninjas, so, you know. They lower their wands, Moody doing so under great protest if his angry facial expression is any indication.

They are lead to a cell in which they find the children, Remus is thrown inside.

“Well, half of our objective is fulfilled. Find the kids!” Tonks states with fake cheer.

“Oh goody, I feel so much better now,” Draco drawls.

The cell door slams behind them.


	33. I Got a Mind to Show my Strength

Chapter 32 – I Got A Mind To Show My Strength

Note: Chapter Title from Christina Aguilera and Demi Lovato’s song ‘Fall In Line’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

**TRIGGER WARNING: Torture, Alcohol withdrawal. If those are intense triggers for you, skip the chapter, I’ll put a non-triggering recap at the bottom.**

**If the alcohol withdrawal is a minor trigger, there’s an intense bit in the chapter I’m putting a warning before so you can just skip that bit.**

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“Well, half of our objective is fulfilled. Find the kids!” Tonks states with fake cheer._

_“Oh goody, I feel so much better now,” Draco drawls._

_The cell door slams behind them._

Now,

Remus opens his eyes to find himself in a cell he recognises instantly.

“No, no, no, no, no,” Remus mutters, hands gripping his hair as he curls into a ball.

“Yeah, I thought that might happen,” Sirius states, cursing under his breath as he slowly moves over to his partner. “Remus?” Remus flinches moving further away from him.

“What’s wrong with him?” Hermione asks, “I mean, I recognise a panic attack but, what caused it? Surely Uncle Moony has been captured before.”

“That’s exactly the problem,” Ron says as Sirius continues trying to calm his love. “Back in the first war, Jamie lived with my family for a long time while Remus was captured, he was never the same after that. It shattered him.”

“How do you know about that?” Molly asks him.

“George told me. He and Fred remember it from when they were little. Only vaguely but, enough for me to put together what happened after getting to know Remus better,” Ron replies, “They didn’t want you to know that they remember any of it, didn’t want you to worry.” Molly and Arthur exchange looks, unsure how to deal with that.

They look back to Remus and Sirius to find Remus muttering and staring blankly in front of him, periodically flinching at things that aren’t there. Sirius has managed to get him to recognise him enough to be able to hold him, stroking his hair in an attempt to calm him further.

“It’s okay, Moons, it’s going to be okay.”

“No, it really isn’t.” They look up to see Rodolphus Lestrange in the doorway. He draws his wand and casts a nonverbal spell that pins them all to the walls except Remus who he then grabs and drags to the middle of the room. “ _Crucio_!” Remus screams, writhing on the ground.

“LET HIM GO!” Sirius yells at him, “STOP IT, LET HIM GO!”

Rodolphus merely smirks. He ends the spell, only to cast another, “Sectumsempra.” Remus cries out as cuts appear on his chest, Rodolphus casts it again on his back and his legs, healing them only enough to stop him from dying, just as Voldemort had done some months ago. “ _Crucio!_ ” He casts again, Remus’ screams turn to whimpers and sobs after Rodolphus holds the spell for a solid two minutes. “Bombarda!” Remus is flung into a wall, burning from the silver laced in them, before he slumps to the ground, curling in on himself. Rodolphus chuckles madly as he leaves the cell, locking it behind him. Only then does the spell pinning them to the walls lift.

Sirius hurries over to Remus who flinches back, throwing a hand up and Sirius is mildly grateful that their magic is being blocked in here, if only to prevent him from being flung into a wall as well.

“Moony, it’s me, it’s Sirius. Please, let me help you.” 

Remus presses himself closer to the wall, not registering the burn, eyes screwed shut and crying out at the pain pushing his cuts to the wall causes. “Not again, not again, not again, not again,” He repeats to himself in a whisper.

“Remus, please, listen to me.” He lays a hand on Remus’ knee, only for him to jerk violently away. “Remus, do you know who I am?” He asks, Remus opens his eyes slightly, staring at him in sheer terror. “What’s my name, Remus?” He asks, falling back on tactics used when memories of Derek would cause flashbacks.

“No, no, not real, can’t be real.”

“What does he mean, not real?” Ginny asks fearfully.

“When Remus first got back, he thought we were hallucinations, we had to convince him we were real,” Moody tells them, “It was Alice that managed it. But she’s not here anymore.”

Remus whimpers again, shaking and pulling away from Sirius slightly.

“Remus, we’re real, we are. Come on, tell me my name,” Sirius continues.

Remus continues muttering and whimpering. Sirius sighs in defeat until he hears a quiet, “Sirius.”

Sirius’ head snaps up and he nods, “Yeah, Rem, it’s me.”

“Trapped, trapped, Sirius, don’t wanna be here again, don’t wanna be here,” Remus sobs. Sirius moves forward, putting his arms around him again and gently getting him away from the wall. He buries himself into Sirius’ chest, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.

“Oh my God,” Mary says under her breath, never having seen him like this.

“He’ll be fine,” Benni tells them, not seeming all too worried, “He’ll calm down eventually, barely remember a thing, be shaky for a while, scull a bottle of something, wake up with a hangover, and be absolutely fine.”

“I wouldn’t call that fine,” Kingsley says.

“And there is no alcohol here,” Hermione adds, looking nervous.

“We’ll get out of here, we’ll be okay,” Draco tries to reassure her.

“Dray, everyone who could come to rescue us is in this room. They got everyone except Dumbledore and if they thought he’d be able to get to us, they wouldn’t have taken us. Seeing as You-Know-Who is afraid of Dumbledore, he must be pretty damned sure that this place is impenetrable.”

“That’s because Albus has no idea where this is,” Moody says, “I believe we’re in the actual cell that Remus was kept in. No one knows where that is except the people in this room. No one alive anyway. The one who smuggled him out is dead now.” Sirius flinches slightly at that. “Sorry, Black.”

“Right, Remus mentioned something about your brother saving his life,” Ginny says. Sirius nods but tries to keep his focus trained on Remus to avoid thinking about it.

“Severus knows,” Arthur reminds them. The others nod, now feeling more hopeful.

“They’ll keep coming back for him though, won’t they,” Tonks asks, tears in her eyes and concern on her face.

“They don’t want anything from us except for us to be out of the way. But they’ve been hunting Remus for a reason, they want to know where the necklace is and have quite correctly assumed that knowing they are hunting him, he will have hidden it and not told any of us where in case we were captured. So yes, they’ll keep coming back for him,” Sirius replies, brushing hair from Remus’ eyes and making an insane mental note that Remus needs a haircut.

“Astute observation,” Avery says as he opens the doorway. Suddenly they’re all pinned to the wall again.

All except Remus.

Severus sneaks through the bunker he suspects the Order is being kept having been tipped off to the children’s capture and the Order’s rescue attempt by Peter. Peter had been told by Remus that if they were gone for more than 24 hours to contact Severus. He heads towards the innermost cell until he hears his name.

“Severus,” Voldemort greets, “Going somewhere?” Severus looks from the doorway he’d been heading towards and back to the Dark Lord, knowing he’s sprung. “Severus, Severus, Severus. Is it possible that you’re still trying to find ways to defy me? After all this time?”

Severus looks him in the eye, “ _Always._ ”

Voldemort’s face grows dark, “I thought you might say that. Rabastan!”

Rabastan Lestrange moves forth, grabbing Severus and manhandling him down to the cell, throwing him to the ground inside.

“Ow,” Severus groans, getting up and finding everyone in there. “Well, I was right about where you are.”

“Please tell me Snape didn’t just get thrown in here with the rest of us,” Harry requests, hearing Snape but obviously unable to see him anymore than he can everyone else.

“Okay, we won’t tell you,” Draco tells him, Harry sighs.

“Great,” Ron says, “That’s great. What the fuck do we do now?!”

Benni rushes over, hugging his Papa around the waist tightly. Severus lifts him up into his arms, holding his son as close to him as he can manage. “I’m scared, Papa.”

Severus doesn’t know what to say. He looks over them all, stopping on Harry in confusion, “Why are you wearing a dress?”

“Because my legs are fantastic, is this _really_ the priority right now?!” Harry asks incredulously as he looks at the blob he thinks is Severus.

Remus whimpers quietly from his place tucked into Sirius’ chest.

Severus shifts Benni to one side of him, freeing an arm and making him glad for his enhanced Zombie strength. He moves over, muttering soothing words in French. Remus slowly uncurls just enough to lift his head ever so slightly. “Sev?” He asks quietly. Severus holds a hand out to him and he grabs it with an iron grip. “D-Don’t leave me here, please,” he whispers desperately.

“Believe me, Re. I’m don’t think I’m going _anywhere_ any time soon.”

It’s been three days, they think, and things haven’t gotten any better. In fact, they’re really taking a turn for the worst as Remus breaks out in sweats, his heart races and not out of fear, and he starts shaking more than he was before.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” Sirius mutters, holding him close.

“Withdrawal,” Hermione says quietly, “The alcohol, I assume.”

“We knew it had gotten bad but…I never considered he’d actually go through withdrawal,” Severus states, feeling rather foolish.

“How do you know that’s what it is?” Tonks asks Hermione who curls in on herself slightly.

“I went through it last year, drugs. I’m recovered now, thanks to them,” She explains, nodding to Ron, Harry, and Ginny. “Put too much pressure on myself in a variety of ways and…something had to give, I guess.” Hermione shrugs, “It was stupid but, after Cedric, and knowing Voldemort was back despite everything we’ve done since we were eleven to try and stop it, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I needed an escape. From that, from school, from a home that would never truly be a home.”

Ginny puts her arms around Hermione, “You got through it, and you’re stronger for it. A year sober, Mio. That’s not nothing.” Hermione nods.

“We need to keep him hydrated,” Ron tells them all. They look at him in surprise. “I asked Pomfrey about it, just in case it happened again and we couldn’t get to help,” Ron explains with a sheepish look to Hermione who seems more grateful than anything though she is concerned that he might be falling back into old habits of trying to save everything and learn everything and stop everything. “She said that if that were to happen, the main thing we could do was keep you hydrated. Any withdrawal comes with a dangerous likelihood of dehydration. Severe dehydration, and that staving that off would be just about all we can do apart from make sure you don’t drown in your own vomit.”

As if on cue, Remus pukes all over Sirius.

“S-Sorry,” Remus apologises quietly, perhaps the most coherent thing he’s said in days.

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault, babe.”

“I should’ve listened to you,” He says, “I should’ve stopped.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Sirius tells him, stroking through his hair, “Just breathe Remus. It’s all okay.”

**Warning**

“And we can make it better,” Rodolphus says as he opens the cell door and once again pins the others to the walls. Without Sirius to lean against, Remus weakly collapses to the floor further, having been sitting up before. Rodolphus screws his nose up and vanishes the sick on Sirius who is glad for it but still wishes the Death Eater would fuck off. Especially when he holds up a bottle of firewhiskey. Remus’ eyes are instantly drawn to it. “It’s all yours, and we’ll stop them from interfering,” Rodolphus says, nodding to the other Order members and accompanying children, “And all you have to do is answer one question about Grimmauld Place.”

Remus weakly pushes himself back up to sitting, “W-What?” He asks, curling in on himself like he hates himself for asking.

“What’s the address for the Order’s headquarters where you’ve been living.”

Remus frowns in confusion, wracking his brain to work out what’s wrong with the question. Then he finally does, “You just said Grimmauld Place, you already know,” Remus tells him.

“Yes, we do. But we want you to tell us,” Rabastan says from behind his brother, moving to stand beside him.

Remus opens his mouth, then hesitates, “No, no, no, no, no, no.” He knows this tactic, they’ve tried something similar before. This training, he answers questions, they give rewards, make him more open to answering questions the next time. It didn’t work before, it won’t now.

“What’s he trying to give him?” Harry whisper asks the person beside him.

“Alcohol,” Hestia replies quietly.

Rodolphus opens the bottle, moving towards Remus with it and quite literally waving it under his nose. He moves back quickly when Remus subconsciously reaches out for it. “It’s a simple question, and you know we know it anyway, so just tell us.”

“N-No, can’t, no,” Remus says, tears in his eyes. He grabs at his hair, shaking his head, “Need it, need it, can’t.”

“You can have it, Remus, just tell us.” Remus looks at the bottle desperately, shaking his head even as he inches closer to the Death Eater.

“Remus you said I was right, you said you should’ve stopped. Now’s your chance,” Sirius tells him.

“Silencio,” Rabastan casts from the doorway.

“You’re so afraid being back here, I know you are. And, we just keep hurting you. Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to numb with this all along?” Rodolphus continues, trying to tempt Remus. “Wouldn’t it all be easier to deal with? You could stop being so scared. The pain could dull. It could all go away again.”

Remus shakes, looking at the bottle like it’s the best and worst thing he’s ever seen. “T-Twel-”

“REMUS DON’T!” Tonks shouts, the noise frightening Remus back into a ball. Rodolphus takes a deep, frustrated breath and nods to his brother who silencios Tonks as well, and every other Order member for good measure.

“This fear, Remus. You don’t have to feel it. You don’t have to feel anything. You could be _so_ drunk, _so_ quickly. Isn’t everything better when you’re drinking?”

Remus looks up again, tears streaming down his face, “Tw-”

“You’ll regret it.” Remus spins in fright, seeing Bellatrix sitting on the ground in front of him. “If you give in, you’ll regret it. But you’re stronger than that, I know you are.”

“No, I’m not,” Remus replies brokenly to the confusion and worry of everyone else.

“Hallucinations,” Hermione says, “Also a common symptom of withdrawal.”

“Perfect,” Rodolphus mutters irately before gesturing for his brother to silencio the children as well, then he turns back to his prey, “Remus, focus up. Whole bottle of alcohol here for the taking.”

Remus turns back but Bellatrix gets up and walks in front of him.

“Do you remember when we first got back together and you were still drinking?”

“Yes,” Remus replies, and for a moment they all think he’s responding to Rodolphus, until they realise he’s not actually looking at him.

“I asked you what it is you had left to forget. Derek was gone and I was back, everything that had hurt you wasn’t real anymore, some of it never had been,” Bellatrix reminds him.

“This is different,” He whispers, shaking his head, “This is real,” He says, looking away from her and back to Rodolphus.

“The thing that isn’t real this time is his promises. Because we both know that drink won’t help. It hasn’t in a long time. You end up feeling worse. Remus, please. I did everything I could to help you before, but this time you have to decide.” 

Remus shakes his head, a sob wrenching itself from his chest, “No, no.”

“Remy, look at Benoit. Look at your child.” Remus looks over to him. “Your child is terrified,” Bellatrix tells him, and it’s true. Benni looks as afraid as he did when his brother lost his mind. He looks as afraid as Phia did when he killed Derek. He looks as afraid as Remus feels. “That’s the real choice, Remus. Your drink, or your kid. And that’s no real choice at all.”

Remus shakes his head again, “No choice. Should’ve made it before.” Remus backs away from Rodolphus.

“Now, now, Remus, why make yourself suffer?” Rodolphus asks with faked concern.

“Go fuck yourself, Lestrange. Your wife’s dead, not like anyone else is gonna do it anymore.”

Everyone looks to Remus in shock, Remus sees Bellatrix laughing and feels the tightness of his chest loosen, just barely. He hasn’t seen her happy in so long.

“ _Crucio!_ ” Remus screams as the spell takes hold. But feels a warmth beside him and knows his Trixie is with him. It’s agony, but he’s not alone. And when it’s over and the brothers leave, Sirius is with him instantly, pulling him back into his embrace.

**It’s over**

“I’ve got you Remus, I’ve got you,” Sirius tells him.

“S’okay,” Remus tells him, “She stopped me.”

“Who, Remus?” Sturgis asks.

Remus looks over in confusion, only to see that Bellatrix is no longer there. He shakes his head, “I’m sorry. I-I was so close to telling them.” Remus’ eyes fill with tears again, “I just wanted to make it stop.”

“We understand,” Harry tells him, “You did the right thing. You stopped yourself.” Remus isn’t convinced that’s true, sure that Bellatrix had been there.

“What I want to know is how they knew about Grimmauld Place to begin with,” Moody grumbles.

“The mole,” Fleur realises, the other occupants of the room looking at each other, on edge as they realise just how vulnerable this mole truly makes them.

They hear a scuffle from upstairs, getting closer.

“What’s going on?” Ginny asks.

“We’re literally trapped in a cell together, Gin. How could we possibly have anymore information than you do?” Ron asks her.

“Ronald!” Molly chastises. Then the door opens, and they all look over.

Severus frowns, “What the fuck?”

2 days earlier…

Jamie and Fred walk into the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, called here to their shock by Lucius Malfoy, and by George. Jamie’s even more surprised by who she sees awaiting them.

“What the bloody _fuck_ is _she_ doing here?” Jamie demands, pulling her wand out.

“Now, Jamie,” Lucius begins placatingly, “We need more help.”

“For what?”

“The entire Order has been captured,” Lucius explains, “Including your Father and your brother. Severus left to save them and didn’t come back, I can only assume they caught him as well. He knew that was a possibility and told me to come here, told me where he thinks they’re being held.”

“And the day had started out full of so much love and hope,” Fred mutters. 

Lucius looks confused until he notices his niece fiddling with a ring on her left hand. “I see, congratulations,” He says, looking to Fred and Jamie. Fred smiles but his fiancée does not.

“What does _she_ have to do with Dad getting captured? She can’t even do magic,” Jamie sneers.

Phia sighs, “Actually, I accidentally used magic and now I can’t seem to stop.” She takes a breath, “Look, Jamie, you have all the reason in the world to hate me. But I am here to save your Dad, are you really going to turn down that help?”

Jamie frowns in suspicion, arms crossed as she turns to her Uncle, “Why are you involved in this? Doesn’t helping us sort of put your place as his Death Eater in jeopardy?”

“They’ve got my daughter and my son,” Lucius replies, voice thick. “I’m not a Death Eater right now. I’m a Father.” Jamie smiles slightly and nods.

“Do you have blueprints of this place?” Fred asks him.

Lucius shakes his head, “No, but I can get them.”

“Do that,” Jamie tells him, “We’ll get Phia as up to speed as we can. But no matter what, we’re bringing them home, tomorrow.”

Everyone nods before Lucius heads to the floo and leaves. 

“George, tell Dumbledore what’s happened, see if he knows anyone else who can help,” Fred tells his brother who seems nervous but nods and goes to leave.

“I know some people who will be willing to help too, wizards, good ones,” Phia tells them. Jamie bites her lip before she nods. Phia gives George an address and a note from her before he heads off.

“Right, first thing’s first,” She says, turning to her estranged Aunt, “You’re going to need a wand, and there’s only one place to get that.”

“I can’t do it!” Phia snaps, slamming her new wand down on the dining room table.

Jamie sighs, “Yes, you can. You just have to-”

“I have to be a witch. I can’t do that.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Jamie snaps back. Phia glares at her niece.

“Hey Cockamaime, can I talk to you for a minute?” Fred requests. Jamie groans but follows her fiancé out of the room.

“What?” She asks him.

Fred sighs, “What’s wrong?”

“My parents, little brother, and almost everyone else I care about in the world is missing. Do I need another reason to be angry?” Jamie asks short-temperedly.

“Jamie, we are trying to rescue a whole bunch of people. Rescues aren’t about anger, they are about hope, and loyalty. You go in there angry, you try and teach her to be angry, and we will fail.”

Jamie frowns, “She abandoned my Dad. Why should she get to save him now?”

Fred smiles, pushing a piece of hair away from her face and behind her ear, “When a person you love is in danger, priorities shift rather quickly.”

Jamie frowns again before she takes a deep breath and nods, the two head back.

“My Dad used to tell me stories, you know,” Jamie tells Phia as they come back into the room. Phia frowns in confusion. “Stories of when you were both younger. He said that you both always swore that you’d do anything for each other.” Phia’s eyes fill with old pain as she looks to the ground. “Were you lying?”

Phia bites her lip, thinking of using those exact words on Remus just a few months ago. Thinking of how he came to her aid despite the risks. Thinking of every time he’s ever done that.

_“HOW CAN YOU SIT THERE ACTING LIKE THIS IS MY FAULT? LIKE I ABANDONED YOU? YOU ARE THE ONE WHO DECIDED NOT TO GO! YOU WORRY ABOUT HOW I FIT IN TO THE WIZARDING WORLD YET PURPOSELY LEAVE ME ALONE IN IT! YOU LEFT ME PHIA! YOU CAN BLAME IT ON ME, OR ON GREYBACK, OR THE FACT THAT I’M A FUCKING WEREWOLF, BUT WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT, YOU. LEFT. ME!”_

_“How can you say that to me? After everything I’ve done for you?”_

_“EVERYTHING YOU’VE DONE FOR ME?! ALL YOU’VE EVER BLOODY DONE IS BLAME ME, AND RUN AWAY.”_

She won’t run away again. Phia looks up, determination filling her eyes. Jamie seems relieved as she grabs her Aunt’s wand from the table and holds it out to her. She takes it.

“All right, now. I told you earlier to think of everyone who ever hurt my Dad and use that anger to power your magic. That was bad advice.” 

Phia raises an eyebrow at Jamie, “Then what am I to do?”

“Don’t think of all the bad times, think of all the good ones. Think of every moment you spent with Dad that was filled with warmth. Think of all the reasons you love him,” Jamie tells her, “I have spent my life believing that my anger was my power, but it wasn’t. The most powerful thing you can have in this world is love.”

Fred stands in the background, leaning against the doorframe and smiles lovingly and proudly as Jamie looks back to him.

Phia looks back to the chair, she closes her eyes and thinks of everything good.

_“Phia they know I’m a Werewolf. They aren’t like the others.”_

_“Okay I’ll meet them.”_

_“YES! OH MERLIN I LOVE YOU SO MUCH YOU ARE THE BESTEST THING TO EVER EXIST THANK YOU!”_

_“PHIA!” He yells launching himself at his sister who hugs him tightly, “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”_

_“Well, I figured you’d be freaking out so James and I planned for his parents to meet me in Diagon Alley and bring me back here through the weird fireplace thingy.” Remus looks at her in shock._

_“You entered the wizarding world? And used a floo?”_

_“Haven’t I said this enough Rem? Anything for you Brother._

_“No monster is capable of loving you both, and Phia, the way I do.” … “Stop lurking and join us you silly sod.” Phia enters the room properly and goes over, joining the hug._

_“We love you too.”_

_“FOBBLEDEGOOP!” Phia rolls her eyes._

_“You always play that card, glupsburt.”_

_“Rude.”_

_“Is this some twin thing I don’t know about?” Peter asks._

_“Yes,” Remus and Phia say at once, James grins._

_“You should not have lost the things you love because of some psychopath that attacked us, and you should not have lost the love you had for things. I’m hoping I can show you what it is you’ve missed, so that you don’t have to miss it anymore.”_

_“Remus…”_

_“Yes Phia?”_

_“Aren’t you afraid of heights?”_

_“Yep.”_

_“Why are you going flying then?” Remus grins at his sister._

_“Because you love them.”_

_“Hey, Sophia.” Phia’s eyes snap up at him in an icy glare._

_“I know all your damn secrets Remus Lupin, watch it.” He grins at her, opening his arms, she hugs him tightly._

_“I’ll see you in Hogsmeade, right?” She nods into his shoulder, “Everything’s going to be better this year, I can feel it.”_

_“I believe you. I love you Rem.”_

_“I love you too Phia.”_

Phia opens her eyes, tears prickling them as she points the wand to the chair in front of her. “Wingardium Leviosa!” She casts, waving her wand as Jamie had showed her. The chair lifts into the air, directed by her wand and Phia can feel it. The magic, thrumming through her body. Magic that has always been there, magic that she has spent far too long denying. Phia smiles, awe-filled, “I’m a witch.”

The floo activates multiple times. Fred, Jamie, and Phia all go to find out who George had managed to round up, only to be shocked when they walk into the living room with the fireplace.

George shrugs, “Turns out there’s a lot of people in the world who care what happens to the others.”

Before them stands _twelve_ people. Jamie was expecting two or three, and instead, in front of her is Andromeda and Ted Tonks, Peter Pettigrew, Lyall Lupin, Percy Weasley, Lee Jordan, five people Jamie doesn’t recognise, and one hell of a surprise.

“Auntie Del?!” She asks in shock.

Del smiles, “Albus decided I’d be more useful on this rescue mission than I am sitting in prison. My sentence rather suddenly was revoked and I was freed.”

“And who are you lot?” Fred asks the randoms.

The teenaged blonde girl smiles, “My name is Lillie, and I’m here to rescue my idiot of a best friend. My parents came too,” She says, nodding to two of the adults they hadn’t recognised.

“Good to see you again, Andrea, Daniel,” Phia tells them, “Thank you for coming.”

“We’d do anything for Harry, you know that. I’m glad you let us know,” Daniel Polka replies.

“This is Hank, he’s an old friend of ours,” Peter tells the others, nodding to Hank who waves and nods hello to the others.

“Scarlet would have come too, but we’ve two kids at home,” Hank explains.

Peter nods, “Glad to have you here, and congratulations.”

“And you?” Phia asks the final person in attendance.

The man, who appears to be around her Grandpa’s age, smiles sadly, “My name is Philip Randona, your Father and his friends meant a great deal to my wife. She’d want me to save them.”

Lucius appears through the floo, confused about the crowd for a moment before he meets Jamie’s eye. “I’ve got the blueprints,” He says, “And another helping hand.” The floo activates one more time. 

Del gasps, walking over and hugging the person who has come through, “Narielle?”

Nari smiles, “Welcome home, Del.”

Jamie looks around one more time before she nods, “Right then. Into the devil’s lair we go.”

Present time…

Severus frowns, “What the fuck? Who the hell are you?”

“I’ve come to collect my idiot.”

Harry chuckles as he recognises the voice, “Did you come all the way from India just to rescue lil ol’ me?” He asks in a mocking voice.

“You know, I could have sworn we made a deal when we were six that if we ever became rich and famous we wouldn’t also become arrogant twats, though not in those words,” Lillie replies. Harry looks at her, someone he’s been worried about seeing again ever since accepting the fact that there were reasons she wouldn’t have told him the truth. But suddenly the last eight years don’t matter. He walks over and hugs her close, she automatically grabs his arm slightly and puts it around her so that he doesn’t accidentally hit her in the face, just as she had done many times when they were kids before he got his glasses. “Much as I’m glad to see you too, Hank, we gotta get moving. Other-Hank and Lee can only keep that hallway empty for so long.”

“Right then,” He turns to the cell of confused people, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“So, how the hell did you end up captured by a bunch of second-rate dickbags?” Lillie asks Harry as they move down the hallway.

“Second-rate dic- do you have any idea whose bloody lair you’ve walked into?” Draco asks the stranger in shock.

“Yeah, that’s why I was expecting to meet more resistance on the way in than we did. Which, you know, sort of screams trap. I don’t think they were expecting quite as many to be on this mission as there are.” Lillie gives a rather predatory grin right as Peter Pettigrew comes around the corner with Percy Weasley watching his back and a bunch of wands in his hands.

“I think these belong to you lot,” Peter says, holding them out. 

“Uncle Wormy?” Harry asks in confusion. Remus, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Tonks, and Severus take their wands without hesitation, Hermione grabbing Harry’s and putting it in his hand. Remus hands his to Sirius, not trusting himself with it right now. Everyone else takes a minute before deciding to do so.

Percy smiles, clapping Harry on the shoulder affectionately. “It’s good to see you again, Harry.”

“Percy,” Harry greets with a smile. 

A patronus comes around the corner and tells them the next phase is clear. Remus and Severus recognise the Patronus. 

“How the bloody hell is Del, here?” Remus asks without stopping their progress.

“Someone named Albus got her out of prison that she was in for some reason? I don’t even know who she is, but Phia says she’s good people, and that’s good enough for me,” Lillie replies.

“You know my sister?” Remus asks her.

“Oh _you’re_ Sparky,” Lillie says with a smirk.

“Fuck,” Remus curses.

“I think it’s cute.” Remus’ head snaps around at the voice, seeing Bellatrix once more.

“Not again,” Sirius mutters, “It’s not real, Rem, we need to keep moving.” Remus’ hands shake as he nods and keeps moving, Severus and Tonks helping him walk.

“How’d you get involved in this, Uncle Wormtail?” Hermione asks Peter who shrugs.

“Dumbledore said you lot were in trouble.”

“Didn’t Bridget want you to leave the war alone?” Ron questions as Moody and Percy lead the way around a corner, only to meet Lee Jordan and Hank Carlysle at the end of the hall. 

They stupefy two Death Eaters before Lee turns to them with a grin. “Bout time you lot caught up. Ted and Andromeda are getting overrun, Fred’s going to help them but we need to hurry this up.”

“Hank?” Sirius asks in astonishment as they all rush forwards faster.

Henry grins, “Good to see you again, Kid.”

They get through the next door before Peter turns to Ron. “Bridget did want that, yes. However when Dumbledore showed up, Bridget took Rema from me and told me to go bring our chaos-prone friend back so that she can kick him for worrying her again.” He looks to Remus as he says this. Remus smiles slightly before his eyes flicker off to look at nothing.

“What’s wrong with him?” Lillie asks.

“Tactful as always,” Harry tells her, pretty easily guessing who she’s talking about. She rolls her eyes at him knowing that at this distance he should be able to see movement and put it together. He sighs, “Alcohol withdrawal. It’s a long story.”

“Well, not really, see I’m assuming the story is something along the lines of ‘crappy werewolf life, turned to alcohol, alcohol turned on him, got captured and lost access to said alcohol, regrets all of life.’”

“How do you know he’s a Werewolf if you don’t know who he is?” Sirius asks her suspiciously.

Lillie gives a feral grin again, “Like recognises like.”

Harry smirks when the others look at him in shock.

Finally they exit the hallway into what seems to be the main area of this bunker. They find a bunch of people unconscious on the ground.

“Fuck you,” Jamie says, stupefying one of the three upright remaining Death Eaters, “and fuck you,” She says stupefying the next, “And fuck you the most!” She says, stupefying the last.

“Jamie?” Severus asks in concern.

“You really didn’t need to do all of that,” Fred tells her, leaning on Andromeda while holding his side, face pinched with pain.

“They _hurt_ you. How the fuck are we supposed to get married if you’re dead?”

Fred sighs, muttering under his breath about ‘Black family genes’, but otherwise does not argue back. Draco and Benni both run over immediately to hug Jamie. She holds them close, very relieved that they are both okay. She looks over the rest of the group, a little worse for wear but so far, they’ve gotten everyone in place.

“Where’s Phillip? He should be here by now,” Peter says, looking around in concern.

“He and George had to go extract Del,” Andrea says as she and Daniel enter the room.

“Mrs Polka!” Harry calls in delight as he runs over and hugs the blob her voice came from, almost tripping on an unconscious Death Eater he didn’t see but righting himself at the last minute. The instant hug shocks the Order and his peers.

“Harry, thank God you’re okay,” Andrea says. 

Harry hugs Daniel next who hugs him back. “I’m fine, you lot worry too much. When do I ever get in trouble when Lillie isn’t around to pull me into it?” He asks.

“From what we’ve been hearing, your impulse control seems to have moved away when we did, so don’t even try that, young man,” Daniel tells him. Harry gives him an innocent look that has Daniel ruffling his hair affectionately.

Phillip, George, and Del come rushing into the room from a different hall, firing spells down it before shutting the door and spelling it shut as much as they can.

“That’ll hold them for a bit,” George says.

“Hopefully,” Phillip adds.

“Sirius Orion Black, you had _one_ job!” Del immediately starts ranting when she sees Sirius, everyone around them looks amused. “Keep the kids out of anything you might’ve been involved with as a kid.”

“You say that like it’s easy, have you ever met our Son?” Sirius asks, flinging a hand to gesture at Harry who grins toothily though he can’t tell from this distance where the two them are. Del just walks over and hugs Harry tightly. Harry hesitates a moment before remembering his conversation with Severus. He hugs his mother back, smiling and feeling oddly safe.

“…What happened to your parents being dead?”

“Lillianna!” Andrea chastises.

Harry just laughs into his Mother’s shoulder. “Yeah, funny story, that,” Harry replies as he pulls away. “Well, actually it’s quite a depressing one but…anyway.”

“Can we just get out of here?” Severus asks as Remus’ knees buckle and he dry heaves for a moment, luckily not vomiting again. 

Draco hurries over, “Uncle Re?”

“I-I’m okay, Little Dragon,” Remus rasps out, convincing absolutely nobody.

“Not yet,” Jamie responds, “We’ve got to stick to the plan. Narielle and Grandpa should be here any moment with the port key.”

“They should’ve gotten back here before Mr and Mrs Polka did,” Fred mutters to her.

Jamie sighs, nodding, “Give it another minute before we start finding our own way out.”

“That door will give any minute,” Del warns Jamie who nods.

“How has Voldemort not turned up yet?” Mary asks the others, frowning deeply.

The rescue group exchange looks before Jamie’s face hardens, “He’s being distracted.”

“By whom?” Harry asks in concern.

“A volunteer.”

“That went badly for her.”

Everyone spins to face the direction the voice had come from to see Voldemort holding Phia by the throat.

“NO!” Remus screams, he goes to move forward but is easily restrained by Severus and Tonks.

“Let her go,” Jamie demands, moving to the front of the group.

Voldemort smirks, “No.”

“Who does he have?” Harry asks quietly, not directing the question at anyone in particular. Something hits his foot and he looks down, picking it up hesitantly and recognising them as glasses. He puts them on and can see again.

“I had them fixed for you,” Voldemort tells him.

“A fact I would be far more grateful for if you weren’t currently holding my Aunt by the neck,” Harry replies instantly.

The Bellatrix only Remus can see steps towards him, “You sent me on a mission in a war, knowing about Ella, knowing what I could lose.” Bellatrix turns to Remus, “I should hate him more than I do. But once you’re dead…it’s hard to hate the living.” She shakes her head, looking at Tom again, “No, I don’t hate you. I pity you, Tom. I pity you.”

Remus jerks free of the grip of his friends and stalks over, “You killed Trixie, you knew about my daughter when you sent Bellatrix out.” Remus shakes his head, “You will _not_ harm Jamie, too.”

“Ah, Constellation Lupin. A pity, war has casualties, I never intended for Baby Ella to be one of them, Remy.” Tom grins, “As for your dear departed Trixie…she was in my way.” Remus snarls at him, but has no chance to reply.

“Avada Kedavra!” Narielle casts towards Tom.

“NO!” Harry jumps in between his Father and the curse heading towards him. He lands on his side and skids across the floor.

“Harry!” He hears his sister scream.

Harry stays still, he needs a plan. Questions will be asked, why did he do this, why would he protect Voldemort? Truth is, he still needs him alive, but they can’t know that. Harry opens his eyes, locking eyes with his cousin, Jamie. ‘Trust me?’ he mouths, she nods slightly. He makes a ‘shh’ motion, she nods again as he turns around and stands back up.

“Harrison?” Sirius asks in shock, everyone looks just as shocked except Hermione and Neville who have seen him survive this spell before.

Harry ignores him, walking over and standing beside his Father who seems proud. Harry turns back to the Order.

“What are you doing, Harry?” Tonks asks, frantically confused.

“Helping the only person who has ever been honest with me, and making the choice I should have days ago when he first asked,” He replies simply, all but feeling his Father’s smirk.

“What?” Sirius questions.

Harry’s eyes go hard, jaw clenched. “You should have told me the truth, _Dad_.” He gives Remus a look that, despite no change in expression, conveys his simple orders not to contradict the statement. He’ll have to explain things to Jamie later, but for now he knows no one will give up the lie.

Narielle moves over to the others, grabbing Phia by one arm, Lyall taking the other without ever moving his wand from where it is pointed at Voldemort. They pull her over to the others, Nari holding out an umbrella to the others who know it must be a port key and all grab hold.

“Be seeing you,” Voldemort tells them, putting an arm around his son’s shoulders, “ _All_ of you.”

**Non-triggering summary:**

So, the mole told the Death Eaters about Grimmauld Place. Jamie mounted a rescue mission, bringing along Fred, George, Phia (Who she and Fred taught some basic spells), Andromeda, Ted, Del (Albus let her out of gaol), Peter, Lillie, Andrea and Daniel Polka, Phillip Randona, Lyall Lupin, Percy, Lee, Narielle Avery, and Hank Carlysle (The Gryffindor Prefect from the Marauder’s Hogwarts years).

The rescue attempt was successful except Harry blocked a killing curse aimed at Voldemort and stayed with his Father while the others used a port key to get away.


	34. There'll Be No Sacrifice Today

Chapter 33 – There’ll Be No Sacrifice Today

Note: Chapter Title from Theory of a Deadman’s song ‘Sacrifice’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

**Trigger Warning: Alcohol Withdrawal. Mostly off-screen but there are moments when it’s shown, I’ll do as I usually do and put a warning before and after in the chapter.**

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

 _“Be seeing you,” Voldemort tells them putting an arm around his son’s shoulders, “_ All _of you.”_

Now,

“Phia, are you okay?” Andrea asks the moment they appear in Grimmauld Place once more.

Phia nods, “Yeah, all part of the plan.”

“Getting captured by Voldemort was part of the plan?” Sirius asks.

“Of course. Miss Lupin gets captured, helpless having lived as a Muggle, easily gives away the plan, Lyall and Miss Avery arrive with the two of them under an invisibility cloak, insuring we are all together when needed but you-know-who is distracted as needed, too,” Phillip explains.

“Sorry, who are you?” Sirius asks him.

“Dr Randona, Eleenie’s husband. It’s good to see you again, Sir,” Severus tells him.

Phillip nods, shaking his hand, “Perhaps one day we shall meet under good circumstances.”

“We’ll get him back, Lilah,” Sirius says as he notices the devastation on her face.

“What if he doesn’t want to come back, Ri?” Del asks him, “What if we’ve lost him for good this time.”

“Harry loves the people in this house, and he would never turn on his friends. Something more is going on, and we’re gonna fix it, and we’re gonna get him back,” Sirius replies. Ginny looks up at that, a plan forming in her mind.

**Warning**

“Dad?” Jamie’s voice comes quietly, cutting through the conversation with ease. She crouches beside her trembling father who has his head in his hands, shirt soaked with sweat.

“Remus, I need you to make a choice,” Sirius says to him as he crouches down as well. Remus lifts his head and looks at him, exhaustion clear in every line of his body. “You said that you should have stopped. You have a chance now, please, see this through.”

Remus leans to the side to rest his head against Sirius’ chest. Sirius wraps his arms around his chosen, the keeper of his heart. Remus nods, “Okay. I-I’ll try.”

“We’ll help you,” Moody tells him, surprising everyone.

Ron nods, “We all will.”

Remus seems scared but he nods. “She’s not real, is she?” He asks, looking at a corner of the room.

Sirius sighs, shaking his head. “No, Remus. Whoever you’re seeing, it’s a hallucination because of the withdrawal.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t tell a teacher about that alcohol problem the moment it became apparent to me,” Henry mutters under his breath. 

Remus gives him a pained but sheepish smile, “You were a kid, Hank. We were all kids.”

“You said that ‘she’ stopped you, before. Who is she?” Ron asks him, seeming concerned. But those who know him well see the critical look in his eye, shadowed slightly by genuine concern.

“Trixie,” Remus mutters.

Bellatrix smiles at him, “You’re making the right decision, Remy.”

“I hope so.” Remus whispers to himself which…doesn’t make sense to anyone so they assume he was responding to the hallucination.

“You’re seeing Mum?” Jamie asks him, he nods. She smiles, “Are you scared?”

Remus frowns, “Not of her.”

Jamie nods, “Good.”

“What did she say that got you to turn away from Lestrange?” Moody asks curiously.

“That Benni was scared, that the real choice was between alcohol or my Son. And that that was no real choice at all.”

Benni swallows for a moment, “Daughter.”

“What?” Remus asks him in confusion, using the conversation to distract from the mounting headache.

“Not your son, your daughter, I wasn’t sure how to bring it up and I know now probably isn’t the time for it but I’ve said it now and so yes.”

Remus blinks at him, “Someone put that into non-freaking out half English half French words please? My brain hurts,” Remus whispers, wincing.

“Did I really switch between French and English?” Benni asks Severus in French. 

Severus nods to his so-…daughter, before turning to Remus, “Benni is letting us know that she is our _daughter_ , not our _son_.”

Remus continues blinking in confusion, “What?”

“Professor, have you ever heard the term ‘Transgender’?” Ginny asks him as those not family quietly leave the room.

Remus shakes his head, then regrets it. Sirius conjures a bucket just in time as Remus pukes.

“Really not the time,” Benni mutters under her breath.

“Whassit mean?”

“Père, we don’t have to talk about this now,” Benni tells him.

“I am getting the feeling this is the most coherent I’m gonna be for a while. Besides, children come first.”

Benni flushes and then looks to Ginny who smiles and comes to sit beside her old Professor.

“So, the term transgender refers to when a person identifies as a gender that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth,” Ginny begins to explain, “Benni, for example, is physically a boy, but feels like she should have been a girl, is a girl in heart, mind, and soul, and has decided she wants to live as a girl from now on.” Benni nods when her Père looks to her.

“So, girl?” Remus asks Benni who nods again, “Mmkay, cool.” He looks up to Sirius, “Cann’I pass out?”

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t,” Sirius replies. 

Remus looks back down to the ground, “Oh, ‘kay then.” **It’s Over.**

The door suddenly opens again as Tonks looks around frantically before looking up at them, aghast. “She let go.”

“What?” Sirius asks.

“The kid, Lillie. She let go of the port key. We left her behind.”

The port key and the others disappear, but Harry and his father are shocked to find Lillie still standing.

“Lillie?” Harry asks her.

“I don’t want to leave you again, Hank,” She tells him.

Voldemort smirks, “Well, any friend of my son’s is more than welcome. Come, we’ll find a place for you.”

Lillie takes Harry’s hand as Voldemort grabs his shoulder and apparates all three of them to Malfoy Manor.

She’s given a room and then allowed to wander free while Harry and Voldemort speak in his office.

“You wanted to capture the Order. That’s why you took the rest of us. We were bait,” Harry says plainly, Voldemort nods. “Well you may have lost Lucius his son because Draco now probably thinks you’ve turned on him for no reason, he didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I merely had him followed when he snuck out, badly, and he was having a clandestine meeting with some followers of Dumbledore’s. Has he truly done nothing wrong?” Tom challenges.

Harry’s eyes shine with anger, “I am not a follower of Dumbledore! He was there to see me! The only reason the others came along is because the Order is convinced you want me dead and I didn’t want them suspicious.”

Tom looks at him for a moment before nodding, “Well perhaps you can convince him to come back, then. You and your friend can go meet him tonight and bring him home.”

“What exactly am I supposed to say to him, Father?”

“The truth, he was bait just like the rest of you, it was nothing personal.”

Harry looks at his Father for a moment before he scoffs and walks out of the room.

Harry contacts Draco through the enchanted paper and instructs the others to meet him in the tunnel by the Dursleys’ place. He and Lillie fly on his broom with his invisibility cloak wrapped around them to ensure they are not followed.

“So, that put a crimp in plans,” Ginny comments when they all arrive.

“Yes, we had a perfectly laid plan and now it’s all a mess, so yeah, bit of a crimp,” Harry responds irately.

“What were you thinking?” Hermione asks him.

“I don’t know. I knew we needed him alive so I jumped between he and the spell and afterwards…I don’t think right after that’s happened.”

“Yes, have noticed that actually,” Hermione replies shortly before sighing, “Well it’s done now, so what do we do?”

“Draco, Father told me to try and convince you to come back,” Harry tells him.

“He knows we’re meeting up?” George asks Harry who looks at him like he’s an idiot.

“Of course bloody not! He just thinks we’re meeting Draco and we made sure we wouldn’t be followed.”

“Where’s my best place, strategically?” Draco asks Harry who frowns in thought.

“We’ve still got Blaise and Pansy with us over there, stay where you are for now.”

“Dumbledore still thinks you’re under the Moral Reversal Spell, right?” Ginny asks, ready to suggest the plan she came up with earlier, Harry nods. “We’ll subtly put it into his head that that’s why, should be easy enough to convince him this is his own fault and he won’t think conspiracy or anything.”

“Can I ask what she’s doing here?” Ron asks, pointing at Lillie.

“I’m here to give this,” She replies, handing Harry a plastic bag with a chunk of bloody werewolf fur in it. “Wanna tell me what you needed that for, Hank?”

“Look, basically it all comes down to my borderline psychotic plan to discredit and then kill someone, but this particular bit has branched out to a more heroic task of attempting to stop Hogwarts from being destroyed as was foreseen over a thousand years ago by a very strong seer. We need this to get more detail from her many-greats grand-son,” Harry replies, earning incredulous/amused/exasperated looks from everyone. None particularly surprised though.

“You want to justify that or are you just going to leave it there?” Lillie asks him, arms crossed and frowning, after he says nothing further for a few moments.

“There’s a man, in a position of great power within the British wizarding world. He’s fighting against a spirit he doesn’t know is the sister he killed while trying to help a madman expose the Wizarding world to Muggles. Meanwhile, this sister is possessing my Father and twisting him into the exact type of madman that the brother was trying to help to begin with. Only this brother is now attempting to take my Father down, as though acting against him will undo his own mistakes. He’s perpetuating hate, and pain, and he won’t stop. Not until someone _makes_ him stop.”

“And that person is going to be you, is it?” Lillie questions expectantly.

Harry smiles, just slightly, but genuinely as he shakes his head, confusing the others. “No, Lillie. Because this isn’t about me, not anymore. That person won’t be me, it will be everyone. Every single living being willing to make a broken system better.” Harry looks to the others, “Because I realised something in that cell. We aren’t fighting to bring him down, we’re fighting to raise others up. It’s for the people who back us, and the innocents who don’t know any different, that we are fighting, more so than ourselves.”

Benni looks him over, nodding, “My Aunt Cissa once said to me that the best battle strategy will fail without an army to carry it out. Your biggest strength has always been and will always be, that you are not in this alone. It’s the people who follow you, who give you something to lead, that allows you to reach victory.”

“Well I’m not leading anymore,” Harry says, “We all are. Because we are Inimicus, Enemies to all who stand against _us_. And Protectors of those who have no power to protect themselves.” Harry smirks, “We’re going to give control of our world back to all the people who live in it, instead of the corrupt currently with near absolute power over all.”

“All but us,” George says. The others nod.

“All but us.”

“So, how long are you staying for?” Ginny asks Mr and Mrs Polka the next day, everyone still rather on edge.

“How long are _we_ staying for?” Ron adds, everyone in the room looks at him in confusion, “Well, this place is compromised, right?”

“We’ve got nowhere else to go,” Moody points out, “Unless you’ve got any ideas?”

“What about our house in France?” Benni suggests, “I know they’ve been there before but they won’t be expecting it then?”

“Not big enough,” Severus tells him, “Pity we burnt down the Black Estate.”

“ _You_ burnt it down?” Kingsley questions, accusation in his voice which quickly reminds Severus of the fact that several Ministry and Law Enforcement Officials are in the room.

“Erm…no. I mean it…got burnt down…mysterious means…it happens.”

Draco frowns for a moment, “What about The Fortress?” Everyone looks to him in confusion for the second time. “Well we _know_ Blaise will let us use it. It’s certainly big enough, and no one lives there right now.”

“What about his Mum?” Ginny asks.

“No,” Ron replies with a shake of his head, “His Mother is working closely with Voldemort, she lives wherever he does until she’s ‘outgrown her usefulness’. Whatever that means.”

“How do you know this?” Severus asks, though he nods to the Order members who look to him for confirmation.

“Well, since Hermione and Pansy started dating, and H-…Harry started living with the Malfoys,” Ron starts explaining, tripping over Harry’s name slightly as though hurt by the previous days events. “Zabini and I have been hanging out. Honestly, everything is in shambles at Hogwarts at the moment, I’m just running with it, seeing as the Headmaster is apparently incapable of running the school.”

“It’s no wonder Voldemort isn’t afraid of him anymore, all things considered,” Ginny adds.

“What are you _talking_ about?” Bill asks his younger sister.

“Well think about it!” She tells him, “He’s been scared to act against Dumbledore in the past, sure that his power cannot rival his. Now suddenly he’s capturing the entire Order, and us kids, from right underneath his nose? He’s getting braver, he’s getting bolder, and if you expect me to believe it’s got nothing to do with everything else going on, what with Inimicus’ attempt on his life and that, then you’re a moron.”

“I read about that,” Tonks says, everyone taking seats around the table. Everyone being the Polkas, the Weasleys, Hermione, Benni, Jamie, Phia, Draco, Kingsley, Tonks, Moody, Andromeda, Ted, and Sturgis. They fill every seat around the table so it’s probably a good thing the others aren’t up yet. “What happened exactly?” She asks.

“Melana, the snake, tried to attack Dumbledore, venomously bite him or something. Others, though, they don’t think she was really trying to kill him,” Benni explains.

“What do they think?” Andromeda pushes.

It’s Ginny that answers, “Well, sneaking around is all well and good, and believe me there’s not a person in Hogwarts that doesn’t know he’s been sneaking around before this, but eventually you have to let them know you’re there.” She shrugs as she takes a sip of her tea, “That’s what others think, anyway.”

“And what do _you_ think?” Sturgis questions, sensing more intelligence in the girl than he had previously assumed.

“I think that it was far too easy for Inimicus to create chaos in what should have been a safe and stable environment. Now I’m just waiting for the moment true anarchy becomes the Order of the day.” No one misses her play on the word ‘order’. 

Ginny smirks as she raises her mug, “Long live Hogwarts.”

“And on that note, to answer your question, we’re not going anywhere until we get our daughter back,” Andrea tells her, “Maybe we’ll stick around after, once whatever is going on with Harry is sorted out.”

“You won’t have to worry about Petunia ratting you out, or anything,” Phia promises, “Believe me, we had some _serious_ and rather vicious words about that whole situation. I’m sorry for what she did to you.”

“In her own way, she was trying to protect Harry, I think. Besides, if not for her, Lillie would have gone through a lot more pain,” Daniel tells her.

“What are you talking about?” Phia asks.

“Petunia recommended a book. _The Boy Who Never Cried Wolf_. It helped us to help her so much.”

Severus looks up, at that. Locking eyes with Phia, with Andromeda, with Del, and then with Mary who he sees standing in the doorway Del had been. They’d done it. They’d improved the lives of Lycanthropes, made them safer, and happier, and freed them of some pain, at least.

Mary lets out a wet chuckle, “Maybe it was all worth it after all.”

Severus smiles at her, “No more waiting.”

Though Severus is hesitant to involve Blaise, they do bring him to Grimmauld Place and explain the situation to him. Attempting to be delicate, mindful of the fact that he is a child.

“THOSE ABSOLUTE _FUCKERS_ TORTURED MY REMUS?!” Blaise screams at the top of his voice. “Fuck them, fuck them fuck them _FUCK THEM!”_ His eyes flash, livid.

“Okay, we might have underestimated him a tad,” Sturgis admits.

Sirius walks into the room, “So, Remus says he heard Blaise yelling and is sure it wasn’t a hallucination. He’s sent me down to make sure his kid is okay. I don’t want to be gone long, someone fill me in?”

Blaise looks at him, a critical look in his eye. “You’d be Padfoot then, would you?” He shoots a look to Benni who nods, looking amused and reminding everyone that, Hufflepuff or not, he was raised by and with a _lot_ of Slytherins. Blaise looks back to Sirius. He steps up close, “See, I’m quite protective of Remus. I don’t feel the need to threaten you though, because, while he may not be here, Harry is _just_ as protective. And, your Son or not, I’m fairly certain that if you _ever_ do _anything_ to hurt him…Harry’s going to do a lot more damage and pain than I could ever have even _imagined_.”

Sirius nods seriously, “Duly noted.”

“Good. Now what’s wrong with him? You wouldn’t be so scared of leaving him alone if everything was fine. Is he still hurt because of them?”

“No, Blaise. He’s…well, not fine. He quit drinking and it’s…more difficult than he thought,” Severus explains.

Blaise’s angry demeanour falls away, only concern and care left on his face. “Will he be okay?”

Severus smiles and nods, “He’ll be fine, he’s been through far worse than this.”

“Everyone has a breaking point.” Blaise looks a little haunted at this, “Believe me, I know that now.”

“What happened?” Severus asks him in concern.

“After you were captured along with the rest of them, Voldemort decided he needed to bring in the kids you and Re had helped raise. Make sure not too much influence had rubbed off on us.” Blaise smiles humourlessly, “Apparently too much did, though. Pansy, Theo, and Astoria ran. Daphne wanted to but didn’t think there’d be time for both of them to make it through the floo, so she sent Asi through. Greg, Vince, Daphne, and I were ‘invited’ to join a meeting, saw Harry there.” Blaise shrugs, “Apparently they were most concerned about me. So now if I disobey, Voldemort will kill my Mother.” Gasps are heard throughout the room. Blaise swallows thickly, “I realise that makes it difficult for you lot to trust me but…well, it’s like Pansy once told me. Our parents made their choice, we have to make ours too.”

“I believe you, kid,” Moody tells him. Everyone in the Order and the usual kids look to him, _Gobsmacked_.

“Why?” Blaise asks him.

“Because, you said his name. Which means you aren’t afraid of him. And no one follows him if they don’t fear him.” Moody nods at him, he nods back.

“My house is open to you all.”

“Where’d the others go? The ones who ran?” Ginny asks him.

“I don’t know, it wasn’t a planned thing. They just ran,” Blaise answers, biting his lip in a show of nervousness that has Severus smile slightly despite circumstances. Everyone who has spent many years with Remus recognises the gesture too.

Then Severus shakes his head, pulling his focus back to the conversation, “Didn’t we tell you kids to plan for something like this, make a place to meet?”

“Yes, but if they’ve any sense at all, they aren’t going to go somewhere that those of us who stayed with Voldemort know about. Trusted friend or not.”

“MIO!” Draco yells at the base of the stairs.

“I’M BUSY!”

“YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS IN TROUBLE, YOU STILL BUSY?!”

Hermione comes bounding down the stairs, quill still in hand, parchments in the other. “What’s going on, is Pansy all right? What’s happened?”

“Voldemort tried to force her hand, instead of giving herself up, she ran,” Severus explains, “We don’t know where she’s gone, but she’s not the only one missing.”

“Do you have any idea where she might have gone?” Tonks asks, a bit annoyed that Draco thought of this and no one else did. Sometimes she thinks the kids around here are the only ones with any real grasp of the situation. And Dumbledore? Well, Ginny had been right. Everything with Inimicus has happened far too easily.

Hermione frowns, clicking her nails against each other as she thinks. Then she runs upstairs, “NO, BUT I CAN CONTACT HER!”

Sirius looks up in her wake, then back to the others, “So, everything’s all being dealt with and I can put Remy’s mind at ease?”

“Tell Re that a few peaches slipped out but it’s okay because ten second rule so it’ll be a full tin again soon,” Blaise requests. Sirius seems confused but nods, heading back upstairs just as Hermione comes running down them.

“Pansy said she’s at the Three Broomsticks, knows Rosmerta would never give her away and would be willing to hide her for a bit before she worked out what to do next. Also suggested we check the Whomping Willow? Apparently Uncle Moony told them that’s where he went as a kid during full moons so they all assume it’s difficult to access and relatively unknown. She knows Tom Riddle was a friend of his and so might know which is why she didn’t go there, but apart from Blaise and Draco, none of the others know that,” Hermione tells them all.

“Right, Snape, Zabini, Tonks, Shacklebolt, you four are going to the tree. Miss Malfoy, Sturgis, you two are with me. We’re going to the Broomsticks,” Moody orders. Hermione seems relieved that she doesn’t have to fight to come along, and Blaise is glad he’s being allowed to help round up his friends as well. “You said the other Greengrass girl doesn’t want to be there, either?” Moody asks, Blaise nods. “Malfoy Manor?” Blaise nods again. “Right, you lot find out who’s willing to help pull-off an extraction, volunteer only, we’ll try to get the Polka kid too. Malfoy, you live there, work with them,” Moody declares, “It’s about time we start doing as we’re supposed to. Saving people. Like we all joined up for.” Everyone nods their agreement, all pleased with this change. “Right then, move out.”

As it turns out, Theo had made it to the Shrieking Shack and, thanks to Severus and Blaise’s presence, agreed to come back with them.

Pansy is found alive and well in the Three Broomsticks, save for a cut on her head that Rosmerta was healing as they arrived. They leave her a big tip before they head back.

They find a great surprise when they get back to Grimmauld Place.

“Oh, hey guys.”

“Astoria?! How did they find you?” Blaise asks as the rescue teams converge in the dining room, standing around because there are not enough seats anymore.

“Actually, she found us. Just turned up at the door and let herself in,” Andromeda explains. 

The rescue teams look to Astoria in confusion she shrugs, “Everyone’s been going on about having found the base of Dumbledore’s Order at long last. I just took the Knight Bus here. Figured if you hadn’t escaped yet, you soon would and, given that all of you had been captured, it was unlikely that they would come back here.”

Pansy and Theo look at each other before nodding. “Yeah, we should’ve thought of that,” Theo says.

“Nice work, Asi,” Pansy tells her. 

The younger girl grins, “Now, we’ve been reviewing your plans to relocate and I…have some reservations about the security of the Fortress. For instance, if Blaise has now disappeared as well, I find it likely that not only will the place be searched, but left under surveillance as well.”

“What would you suggest?” Severus asks her, moving to put a hand on her shoulder and squeeze it gently, in recognition of the fact that the girl is shook up and he knows it. 

Astoria smiles tightly, glad to have been validated and reassured even if that is all that is possible right now. “The Fidelius charm.”

**Warning**

“How could we possibly choose a secret-keeper when we know one among us is a spy reporting directly to Voldemort?” Tonks asks as Sirius and Remus enter the room, Remus wrapped in a blanket and looking sweaty, shaky, and utterly miserable.

“What are you doing up?” Severus asks the two.

“Heard you lot get back, figured we’d be leaving soon. Remus was in a reasonably good state of mind so I decided to tackle the stairs while he was still in the mood to help,” Sirius explains.

Remus jerks slightly, “S-Sor-ry,” He mutters, pulling the blanket tighter around him and squeezing his eyes shut.

“Have a seat,” Astoria tells him, getting up to let him have hers. She then goes over to Ron, “Up, Weasley.” Ron stands up, looking confused. Then Astoria takes his seat. “Cheers.” Ron huffs and rolls his eyes but goes to lean against the wall beside Hermione. Remus sits in the freed chair with very little grace. **It’s Over**

“As for the secret-keeper problem,” Sirius grimaces, “I have an idea.”

“I’m being punked, aren’t I?” Peter asks Mary and Moody. Bridget sits beside him while Hermione and Draco entertain Rema.

“I assure you, we are entirely serious,” Mary promises.

“No, I won’t do it. I mean, God, are you kidding? After what happened last time? No way. Get one of your own to do it.”

Moody huffs, “They’re all too afraid.”

“Well so am I, so good day to you,” Peter snaps.

Bridget takes a calming breath, “Why him? I mean, no offence Dear, but you all have every reason in the world to not trust him in this exact situation.”

“There’s a spy in the Order. For obvious reasons, we know it isn’t your fiancé,” Moody begins to explain, “Sirius, of all people, suggested it. Seems to think it’s so bloody unlikely that no one will even think of it.”

“He thought that last time,” Peter points out.

“And no one would have had you not told them,” Alastor counters. Peter flinches slightly, looking off to the side.

Mary reaches out to cover his hands with hers, “Pete, this has nothing to do with then. We know you aren’t working for him now, know that without him having literally kidnapped me, you never would have. We’re here because we trust you to do this, and because, in some small subconscious way, Sirius apparently still does too.”

Peter hesitates, looking to Bridget who takes a moment, then nods to him. “We said too many children have already grown up without parents. We can’t help their parents, but we can help them. _You_ can help them.”

Peter nods too, then looks back to Mary and Moody, “All right, I’ll do it.”

And so, like a man walking to his own death, Peter Pettigrew returns to the Order of the Phoenix.


	35. You're the Pulse that I've Always Needed

Chapter 34 – You’re The Pulse That I’ve Always Needed

Note: Chapter Title from Phillip Phillips’ song ‘Gone, Gone, Gone’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“We said too many children have already grown up without parents. We can’t help their parents, but we can help them. You can help them.”_

_Peter nods too, then looks back to Mary and Moody, “All right, I’ll do it.”_

_And so, like a man walking to his own death, Peter Pettigrew returns to the Order of the Phoenix._

Now,

“Harry, what the hell is going on?!” Jamie demands when he meets her at her old house in France by floo.

Harry, despite his cousin’s confused anger, remains calm, “Have you heard of Inimicus?”

“Of course, who hasn’t?”

Harry can’t help but feel a bit of pride hearing that. “I’m him.”

Jamie blinks, “What?”

“He’s me. I am Inimicus.”

“…no, no that would mean you are trying to kill Professor Dumbledore…it would mean you killed my little broth-no-sister’s best friend.” Harry sighs, nodding. Jamie gasps, eyes filling with tears, “No…no. I won’t help you with this! I won’t keep your damned secret!”

“Then you will not know it. But given how many years ago you told me the truth of my family, that will be a lot of memory you lose. Your choice, of course,” He replies coolly.

“You’d turn against your own cousin?”

“Are you not currently doing the same?” He asks, she blanches. Harry sighs at her, “Jamie –”

“You’re bloody mental!” She exclaims.

“Perhaps, but I also have far more backing right now than Dumbledore does. So who would you prefer to have on your side?”

Jamie’s eyes harden, “You’re a coward. You have so much backing because you know you can’t really take him on.”

“This isn’t about my pride or ego, Jamie. I don’t need to be able to take him on, I just need him to be dead.”

“And what will you do once he is?” She demands.

Harry gives a small, tired smile. “Live in peace.”

For a moment, she believes him. But only for a moment, “You’re insane,” She says breathlessly. Jamie shakes her head as she steps away from him, “I’ve had enough of insane family members. So have it your way. I’ll say nothing, but you leave me the fuck alone.”

Harry studies her for a moment, gauging whether or not he can change her mind. Then he nods, “As you wish.”

Jamie wastes no time before apparating away.

“Cockamaime?” A voice asks from the door. Jamie turns to see the Weasley twins at the door, she nods them inside. 

Taking the hint of a serious conversation, Fred shuts the door behind them. “Tonks and Mad-Eye finished their sweep of the place. We’re all just about ready to head to New HQ.” Jamie nods again but says nothing more. “What’s going on, Love?”

“I’m leaving. I’ve had enough of this war. My Dad was right, I had no idea what I was getting into. But now I know I don’t want to find out,” She tells them. They seem, understandably, quite shocked. “I know now that if they need me, I can be here just like everyone was when we sent out a call that they needed help. I don’t have to be here and actively in the war to help them when they need it. So, I’m leaving,” She says again, “Will you come with me?”

“Anywhere,” Fred replies without hesitation. He walks over, taking her hand. 

She nods, clearly relieved but no less tense, “And you?” She asks, turning to George.

George frowns, pain clear on his face as he shakes his head. “I’m sorry…I-I can’t.”

“George…” Fred begins.

He shakes his head, “I’m sorry, Freddie. You have to go and I know that. But know that I have to stay. We…” George sighs, “We knew we’d branch off eventually.”

“I didn’t think that meant now,” Fred replies, tears in his eyes.

George nods, “Nor did I. But I have more stake in this war than you know. I’ve been helping someone…someone outside of the Order. Someone who I believe can bring peace.”

“Inimicus,” Jamie states as things fall into place. His disappearances in the last few months, his sudden interest in keeping in touch with those at Hogwarts, the constant secrecy.

George nods again, “I need to see this through.” Fred and George share a moment before Fred nods, taking Jamie’s hand. George gives his brother a tight smile.

“Be safe, George.”

“Goodbye.”

“How did it go?” Lillie asks Harry as he enters her room.

“She’ll keep quiet but is refusing to help,” He replies before taking in her nervous demeanour, “What’s going on?”

“Your Father called me into his office while you were gone, Greyback was there,” She begins to explain, Harry’s eyes widening with fear and with interest. “They want me to join Greyback’s pack, to learn about the pack before acting as liaison between the pack and your Father.”

“That’s…a big position for someone they’ve just met,” Harry says in confusion.

“Exactly, there’s a reason they want me to do this, I just can’t work out what it is. Dollars to donuts it’s about you, though.”

Harry frowns as he thinks about it, “Influence,” He realises, eyes lighting up, “You abandoned the Order, your family, everyone, to stay here with me with no hesitation or forethought. They know you are loyal to me. My Father thinks he can use the two of us to have more influence on the pack, Greyback thinks he can use my loyalty to you to have more influence on Voldemort, or at least be able to get away with more.”

“So we’re pawns,” Lillie states.

Harry nods, “Yes, they just don’t realise we’re playing the game too,” Harry replies with a smirk, “Afterall, while it may be difficult, a pawn can take a Queen too.”

Lillie smirks too as she nods, “And checkmate a king.”

“Exactly.”

“Where’s Jamie?” Sirius asks as everyone begins heading through the floo to The Fortress.

“She’s coming back to Vienna with me,” Phia tells him, walking down the stairs with Jamie and the Weasley Twins behind her. “So is Fred.”

“What?” Benni and Molly ask simultaneously. 

Fred and George go off to talk to their Mother while Jamie walks over to Benni. “That was really brave, earlier. Coming out to everyone,” Jamie tells her sister as she kneels down in front of her, speaking French as they usually do when speaking to each other. Jamie smiles sadly, “I wish I was that brave.”

“You are, you’re the one who taught me to be,” Benni replies, sounding more like a child than she has in a long time.

Jamie shakes her head, cupping Benni’s cheek in one hand, “No, Little Benni, you worked that one out all on your own. See, the truth is, I was raised in fear. You learnt to battle through it, and I didn’t. I don’t want to live in fear anymore.” Jamie takes a deep breath, taking both of Benni’s hands in hers, “If you need me, I will be here. Immediately, no matter what. Just like always.”

Benni nods before throwing her arms around her sister, “Je t’aime ma soeur.”

“I love you too.”

Jamie walks over to Sirius and hugs him, “Look after my Dad, will you?”

Sirius hugs her back tightly, “Always have, always will.”

“I know. When he’s feeling better I’ll come talk to him about this but, honestly I sort of doubt he’ll notice me not there right now.”

Sirius nods, “Good point.” Jamie pulls back, squeezing Blaise’s shoulder and smiling at him before she, Phia, and Fred leave back to Vienna.

When at last the whole Order and kids arrive in the Fortress, the floo activates once more and Peter Pettigrew steps through.

“Right, shall we get this over with?” He asks, looking antsy about being surrounded by the Order of the Phoenix.

“Promise you won’t run to Voldemort and tell him where we are?” Tonks challenges.

Peter smiles slightly, nodding. “I solemnly swear it.”

Mary chuckles as she walks over and throws an arm around his shoulders, “Dork. How’s Budgie and the Baby Bird?”

“Rema had an ear infection and we did not have any potion on hand, in our entire apothecary, to deal with it. So that was interesting to try and deal with while Bridget tried to whip one up.” Peter sighs as Mary snickers and pats his back. “How’s Moony doing?”

“He was shouting at Sirius last I saw, seems to think Sirius doesn’t actually love him he hates him and that’s why he’s doing this.” Mary winces, “It’s not pretty.”

“Poor Sirius,” Peter says with a frown, Mary nods.

“And yet, from the ashes of heartbreak, I emerge.” Mary, Tonks, and Peter look up to see Sirius standing on the first floor landing.

“Hi Sirius,” Peter greets awkwardly.

Sirius’ jaw tenses as he nods, “Peter.”

“…how’s Re doing?” Tonks asks into the awkward silence that follows.

“Regretting life, Molly’s sitting with him for a bit while I get something to eat,” Sirius replies, still looking at Peter unhappily.

Peter clears his throat, “Moody said you were the one who suggested using me as secret keeper.”

“It made the most tactical sense,” Sirius replies sharply. He moves down the stairs and towards the kitchen as he says, “Besides, you’ve got more to lose by betraying us this time. How’s that kid of yours doing?” He leaves the room without waiting for a reply.

“You don’t think he’ll actually-” Tonks starts asking before Peter cuts in.

“If he did Remus would straight up leave him, so no, I don’t think he will.”

Dumbledore arrives a few minutes later, checks with the Order that they are sure about their choice, and then enacts the charm.

“You are our secret keeper now, Mr Pettigrew.”

Peter nods, “I won’t let you down again. Any of you.”

“Hope not, because if you put my sister’s life in jeopardy again, I will tear you limb from limb,” Draco declares as he walks in the room through one door and out another, apparently just casually passing through.

Peter nods awkwardly, “Fairo.”

“Actually, Professor we called you here for more than just this,” Mary tells him, “We’ve got the Order together for a meeting, we need to talk.”

Dumbledore frowns but nods, “Well then, shall we?”

“Dumbledore, Sir,” George calls just before Dumbledore enters the dining room. Inimicus had spoken of a need to have someone else within the Order, this is an opportunity he can’t pass up.

“What can I do for you, Mr Weasley?” Albus asks, surprised to have been stopped.

George isn’t convinced his old Professor is sure which twin he is. He takes a deep breath, shyness creeping in once more without his Twin present to take over. But he made this decision, to be without him. He has to see it through. “I want to join the Order, Sir.”

Dumbledore nods, unsurprised by that, at least. “Your brother and Miss Lupin are not with you?”

“No, Sir,” George replies with a shake of his head and sadness in his eyes, “They’ve left, Sir. Jamie…she doesn’t want anything to do with the war anymore. I think it’s Harry that’s done it, Sir. She doesn’t want to lose anyone else and…she already sort of has. Fred won’t leave her,” George continues, unsurprised by the slight look of knowledge in Dumbledore’s eyes when he gives away which twin he is though confusion about what Harry’s got to do with anything. “They don’t want a part in this and I can understand it. But I can’t just stay out of it.”

“Have you spoken with your parents about this?”

George shakes his head again, “No, Sir. But I am nineteen, it’s my decision, not my Mum’s.”

Dumbledore nods slowly, “Very well. Welcome aboard, Mr Weasley,” He says, holding out a hand that George takes and shakes.

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Harry Potter has joined Lord Voldemort?” Dumbledore clarifies with shock after the whole situation is explained to him, the others all nod.

“He wasn’t making a lot of sense…” George begins hesitantly, “It’s like it wasn’t him, like his whole personality, his morals, were…flipped or something.”

All the Order Members from the First War look over as things click into place. Dumbledore seems mildly exasperated for a moment before feigning concern. George is fairly certain he’s succeeded in making Dumbledore believe it is his spell that caused this.

“He cast the spell, the Moral Reversal Spell, you-know-who cast it on Harry. He had to have,” Molly says, the others all nodding their agreement.

“Yes, it does appear so,” Dumbledore states, going along with it. “Did we ever create a cure for that particular spell?”

Severus sighs, knowing he needs to speak with the Reapers higher up in the food chain than he is to find out what exactly is even happening anymore, “No, Sir, but we know it is possible. Bellatrix died defying Voldemort, which means somehow she was saved.” Severus looks up and sees hopeful looks, he nods, “I’ll redouble my efforts.”

“See that you do.”

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_What is it you wanted to tell us when you asked to meet up to begin with?_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

Harry asks Draco through the enchanted paper as he sits in his room. Draco in his with Blaise.

Blaise and Draco exchange looks before Draco replies.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_We were searching that place that Pansy found out about. We found a dead body, looked pretty old, clear signs of torture. Thought maybe it was someone who fought against your Father in the last war. We got his wand, figured Ollivander might recognise it and we can work out who he was, which is all going to be easier to do quietly if the world isn’t in shambles from the immediate effect of us outing Dumbledore’s skeletons so to speak. And, I don’t know. Something seemed off._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Send Ginny to Ollivander, she’s non-descript and people tend to just believe what she says._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Understood._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

Ginny takes the wand and heads to Diagon Alley, going directly to Ollivander’s.

“Miss Weasley, nice to see you again,” Ollivander greets as soon as she enters.

Ginny smiles, “Good Morning, Mr Ollivander. I was hoping you could help me with something,” Ginny tells him.

“And what might that be?”

“I’m trying to identify the owner of this wand,” Ginny replies, handing the wand over and hoping he doesn’t notice the small drops of dried blood on the one end of it. She’s pretty sure he does.

His eyes widen, “Are you in trouble, Miss Weasley?”

“Of course not, why would I be?” She asks, carefully controlling her expression to mask the interest and nervousness his words have invoked within her.

“Because this wand belonged to one Caradoc Dearborn.”

“And who is he?”

“Dead, Miss Weasley,” Ollivander replies simply. He sighs, “As I understand it, he fought alongside your Headmaster during the first war against he-who-must-not-be-named.”

Ginny’s eyes widen, “Oh.”

“If you are involved in something, Miss Weasley, I strongly suggest you get out of it.”

“I’m not. We’re just trying to return the wand to the people who care about him, that’s all.”

“We?” Ollivander questions. Ginny curses herself internally, but Ollivander smiles. “I think you’ll find that one Sturgis Podmore was his closest friend. Perhaps you should start there.”

“Thank you for your help, Mr Ollivander.”

The Reapers in the Fortress, including Severus and excluding Remus (for obvious reasons) succeed in secretly meeting in the attic. Harry at a payphone near Malfoy Manor on the line with Severus’ mobile phone which is on speaker so that they can all actually talk for once.

“Caradoc Dearborn?” Harry asks Ginny after she fills him in.

“That’s what he said. Apparently he was a member of-”

“The Order of the Phoenix, I know,” Harry says to the surprise of all the Reapers.

“Is this one of those things we shouldn’t ask about?” Ginny asks, unused to there being something _she_ doesn’t know.

Harry shakes his head though they can’t see it, “Moody showed me a photo of the original Order and told me who everyone was, Dearborn was one of them.”

“What do we do about the wand?” Ginny asks.

Harry frowns for a moment, “Is anyone of the Order not at the new HQ?” He asks, knowing he can’t get there without Peter letting him and there’s no way Peter’s going to take any risks with this.

“Tonks, she’s with her parents tonight,” Severus replies, confused.

“Good. Now, as for the wand. George, apparate to the tunnel and hide the wand and my Inimicus suit under some rubbish or something, leave the rest of it to me.”

That night, Harry wraps his invisibility cloak around himself and his broom as he flies first to the tunnel to grab the wand and then to Andromeda and Ted Tonks’ house where he knows Tonks is staying the night. Once there, in full Inimicus regalia, he enters her room and leans against the inside of the closed door. Tonks walks out of her ensuite, toothbrush still in her mouth as she tries to untie her shoe. Really, someone as uncoordinated as Tonks is should probably have learnt not to do that by now, but that’s none of his business. She freezes as she looks up and sees him.

“Who the hell are you?” Tonks asks around the toothbrush as she points her wand at him.

“Inimicus,” Harry replies, using the voice disguiser that Blaise sewed into the mask for him.

“What do you want?” Tonks questions after taking the toothbrush out of her mouth.

“Only to give you this,” He tells her, holding the wand out to her but sideways so that it is not pointed in her direction.

“Whose is it?” She asks, taking it hesitantly.

“An old member of the Order of the Phoenix. The first Order of the Phoenix.”

“How do you know about the Order?” Tonks asks more aggressively than the previous questions.

“I know a lot of things, Auror Tonks. I am bringing this to you as a kindness, because I know how important closure can be. You can find his body at 5 Coleham Head, Shrewsbury.”

“And now I suppose I am to just let you leave?” Tonks asks snarkily.

“You won’t be able to stop me,” Inimicus replies, “and I would very much prefer that you and I part on good terms. Don’t you?”

Tonks frowns, then slowly lowers her wand. “Don’t make me regret that, Inimicus.”

“We all regret things in life, Auror. That does not mean they were the wrong decisions, only that they came with a heavy weight.”

With that, Inimicus leaves.

“Remus!” Tonks calls happily as she enters the dining hall of the Fortress where the rest of the house’s residents are currently eating.

“Hi, Tonks,” Remus responds, sounding tired and looking pale and sickly, but okay. He’s going to be okay.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Like I got hit by a truck,” Remus replies, “So better than I have in a few days.”

“Right well I called the others here,” Tonks says as she notices Dumbledore, Hagrid, McGonagall, and Kingsley arrive. “So kids leave, but Remus I think you should stay.”

“I’m not a part of the Order anymore,” Remus reminds her as the kids leave with suspiciously little argument. The others assume they are shaken from their capture and hope that this means they will argue less when the adults attempt to keep them out of war activities.

“You handled yourself pretty well on that rescue mission,” Sturgis points out as he entered.

“No one handled themselves well on that rescue mission,” Remus replies. Then he sighs, “I can’t fight a war this way.” Everyone nods, letting it go.

“This isn’t about this war, it’s about the last one. Inimicus paid me a visit last night,” Tonks tells everyone. They all look at her in shock, Remus just as surprised. Not by the fact that he didn’t know, he can’t imagine why they _would_ have told him yesterday all things considered. No, he’s just surprised because he doesn’t understand what could have made that risk necessary.

“What did he want?” McGonagall asks, raising an eyebrow as she and the others that just arrived take a seat. She’s been keeping a close eye on the situation, still unsure how she feels about the whole situation but for now willing to go along with the agreement she and the students reached over the previous school holidays.

“He gave me this,” Tonks explains, handing the wand to Dumbledore who honest to god gapes at it for a moment.

“Mr Dearborn’s wand,” He says quietly.

“What?!” Sturgis calls in surprise. Dumbledore hands the wand to him. “How did Inimicus get this?”

“I think he found it. He…” Tonks trails off for a moment, taking a deep breath in the face of the grief in the room, “He gave me a location, said we’d find the body there.”

“This proves it, doesn’t it? Voldemort and this, Inimicus character, they’re connected,” Sirius states but Tonks shakes her head.

“I’m not so sure about that. He said he was doing us a kindness, that he knew how important closure was.”

“He tried ta kill Dumbledore,” Hagrid reminds her.

“So has Remus, internally at the very least,” Tonks rebuts. Remus rolls his eyes but denies nothing. “I just think there is more to this.”

“It is curious, isn’t it?” Kingsley tells them, “This was a risky move, motivated by emotion. This whole idea of closure…he wants us to find our friend because we deserve to.” Kingsley shakes his head, “He cares about people, which makes his actions even more confusing. And yet, not. I don’t think he has a big goal or over-arching plan,” Kingsley explains, “I think he wants you to suffer, Albus.”

“Why would he want that?” Dumbledore questions him.

“I don’t know. But whatever reason he has, it’s personal, and emotional. Inimicus feels you have wronged him in someway, I do believe he is trying to punish you for it.” Silence follows his words, no one quite sure what to say.

“Let’s just get Caradoc back, put him to rest properly. Then we’ll deal with the rest of this,” Severus suggests, the others agree.

Moody and Tonks go to Ollivander’s that day, he seems unsurprised to see them.

“You ever seen this wand before?” Moody asks him, holding up Caradoc’s.

“Yes of course. I remember every wand I’ve ever sold.” 

“Recently,” Tonks adds.

Ollivander smiles slightly, “Someone came in with it, asking whose it was. They were trying to return it to its owner so of course I told them whose it was.”

“Who came in?” Moody questions gruffly.

“A young girl.”

“You ever seen her before?”

Ollivander shakes his head, “No, and she didn’t offer her name.”

“You didn’t ask?” Tonks asks.

“I’m afraid not.”

Tonks and Moody exchange looks, both agreeing that he knows exactly who came asking questions, before Moody huffs, “We’ll be back if we have more questions.”

“My door is always open,” Ollivander replies cheerily.

“So, what did you guys want to talk to me about?” Jamie asks her Dads as they sit in a small sitting room in Phia’s palace.

Severus looks at Remus nervously but Remus nods strongly despite still looking quite weak.

Remus clears his throat, “I want to talk to you about your Mother.” Jamie’s eyes widen but Remus shakes his head, “Not that Mother.”

“What are you talking about?” Jamie asks him.

“Your middle name, Loraine. That was your birth Mother’s name. She was a Death Eater and knew you would not be safe with her, growing up around Voldemort. It’s not the life she wanted for you. So she started looking for me. I didn’t know you existed at that point. You were nine months old when she finally found me. Told me I had a kid and that I had to look after you now. She strongly suggested we do a blood adoption with Bellatrix, Loraine thought it would be easier on you if you just never knew she existed.”

Jamie’s eyes widen once more, “You…I-what?” Jamie stands, pacing for a moment, “So you were just, what, never going to tell me?”

“No, no, of course not, Jaim,” Severus tells her, “Your father and I made the decision a long time ago that when you turned 17 we’d tell you the truth but…well shit’s sort of been non-stop insane since that happened so we hadn’t. But we are now, obviously.” Jamie calms down significantly at the knowledge that they had always planned to tell her and it was just delayed by war.

Remus clears his throat, “Losing your child, Jamie…it’s hell. I don’t know how she even dealt with it. But I wanted you to know how very much she loved you to do that for you.”

“So how did Mum react when she came home and you just had a child?” Jamie asks, nervous as she always is to bring up her Mother to her Dad.

“…less shocked that I thought she’d be,” Remus replies, “I mean she was speechless for a moment but after that, not so much.”

“Well, if it was going to happen to anyone it would be you,” Severus tells him. Remus looks at him in confusion and irritation. “Twice, Remus. Twice women have showed up on your door with months old children of yours that you didn’t know existed.”

“Shut up,” Remus tells him, elbowing him slightly. Severus chuckles.

“Actually, erm, that was a pretty good lead in to something I wanted to ask you about when you were…well, feeling better, I guess,” Jamie tells Remus who raises an eyebrow at her. “When you-know-who showed up, what you said, about him killing your kid. He called her Baby Ella. What were you both talking about?”

Remus freezes for a moment, then breathes more steadily than the other two were expecting. “Trixie was pregnant at one point during the first war. She named the child, Constellation Lucinda Lupin, but to be called Ella for short. She’d said in our first year at Hogwarts that if she had a kid she’d name them Constellation. Mostly because Sirius had just sworn no child of his would be named after a Constellation and she liked messing with him.”

“And Lucinda because of Uncle Lu?” Jamie guesses.

Remus nods, “Lucius worked very hard to free your Mum from the spell her parents had her under for a few years, she felt she owed him a lot for that.” Jamie nods, remembering her Father telling her of that spell the first time he ever talked to her about her mother.

“What happened to my Mother? Loraine, I mean.”

“I really don’t know. I never heard from her again,” Remus tells her.

“I worked with her a few times as a Death Eater,” Severus says, “She disappeared over a year ago.”

“Do you think she’s dead?” Jamie asks.

“I really don’t know. She could be on an extended mission, she could be guarding something. I just don’t know, and I can’t exactly find out anymore.” Jamie nods her understanding.

The two get up to leave, but when they go to Apparate away, Remus stops. “I have to go do something, I’ll meet you back there, okay?” Severus looks quizzical but nods.

Remus apparates to his parents’ place and walks in the door, walking into the living room. He goes to the mantle, picking up a picture of himself, Phia, their little brother, and their parents all sitting in front of a Christmas tree. He’s got no idea who took the photo, but then he remembers very little of being four.

“Remus?”

Remus turns to see his Mother and smiles widely at her, “Hi Mum.”

“What’s wrong with you? Are you ill?” Hope asks, looking him over even as she comes over and hugs him. 

Remus hugs her back, taking a deep breath and feeling safer than he has in a long time. “I’m not ill. I…well, turns out it’s a little harder for an alcoholic to quit drinking than it sounds.”

Hope looks at her son’s face for a moment before she cups his cheek with a hand and smiles gently at him, “I’m proud of you, Remus.”

“Thanks, Mum.”

“So, shouldn’t you be resting or something?”

“I had to go to Vienna, there was something Sev and I needed to tell Jamie, it went pretty well.”

“That doesn’t explain what you are doing here,” Hope says, a suspicious look coming over her face. 

Remus laughs a little self-deprecatingly as he nods but hesitates to speak. Then he hands her the photo he was holding and she looks at him in confusion. “What was his name?”

Understanding fills Hope’s face along with old grief as she nods. “Ceri. His name was Ceri. He was a happy baby. You adored him, Phia always complained that he cried too much but still always wanted to play with him.”

“Well that’s just Phia in general, isn’t it?” Hope laughs at Remus’ words, nodding.

“Remus!” Remus looks over to see his Father entering the room, he goes over to hug him. “You all right, son? You look pale.”

“I’m fine, Dad.” He looks between the two nervously before he nods and gestures for his parents to sit on the couch as he sits on the coffee table in front of them. “There’s some things I want you both to know, and you aren’t going to like them.”

His parents seem nervous but nod for him to continue. And then he tells them about Moony, about Werewolves in general, about their book and the research they conducted as a kid, about finding out Moony could talk and about the Marauders raising him and teaching him. He tells them about Moony hating Sirius, and his grief about losing his pack and his mate. And then he tells them about how Moony found out what a baby is and how he reacted when he realised what he had done during his first moon.

“This is…a lot, son,” Lyall tells Remus who nods.

“I know, but I wanted you to know that he is sorry. He didn’t mean to hurt Ceri, he just had no idea what anything around him was and he was scared, and he’s been punishing himself ever since and he’s just really damned sorry,” Remus explains.

Lyall gets up, pacing. Hope takes Remus’ hand, for comfort more than anything. “If we had known all of this years ago we could have helped you better,” she says.

Remus nods, “That’s why we wrote the book, so some people could live better lives than I did in that regard. And it worked, Petunia recommended it to the parents of a young Werewolf many years ago and she’s been so much better off for it.”

“And we’re proud of you for that, never doubt that,” Lyall tells him, but Remus can hear how unwilling he is to accept that Moony wanted to help too.

“None of it would have been possible if Moony hadn’t worked with us to make it.” Lyall nods but says nothing more about it. “Oh, also, about Benni,” Remus says, partially to change the subject and also because Benni had requested he tell them about what Remus is internally referring to as ‘the whole gender thing’ that he is still trying to wrap his head around. “So I’m probably not going to be explaining this right…” Remus frowns, “Actually hold on.”

He apparates back to the Fortress and almost immediately finds Ginny, “Hey, can you help me with something?”

“Yeah, of course, what’s up?” Ginny asks him.

“You have to promise not to be weird about it.”

“I make no such promises.”

Remus rolls his eyes, “Look Benni asked me to tell hi-er- _her_ grandparents about her being a girl and I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Glad to, will 100% do so, yes,” Ginny replies quickly.

“Don’t be weird with my parents.”

“Now, Professor, when am I _ever_ weird?”

Remus narrows his eyes at her before he sighs and nods, she grins as they go.

They find Remus’ parents exactly where he left them. “Right, Mum, this is Ginny. Dad, you remember Ginny. Ginny, this is my mother, Hope Lupin.”

“It’s good to meet you, Mrs Lupin,” Ginny tells her.

“And you, Ginny,” Hope replies, hugging her, just because. Hope’s a hugger, it’s a thing.

“Right so, Professor Lupin has brought me here to explain something Little Benni wants you to know that Professor Lupin is pants at understanding let alone explaining,” Ginny explains.

“I’m trying!” Remus defends.

Ginny nods, “And you have no idea how much that means to Benni, truly.” Remus smiles slightly, glad that of all the ways he’s failed his children, this so far has not been one of them.

“So, what’s going on with my Grandson?” Lyall asks.

Ginny clears her throat, “So, a few days ago Benni told her parents that she would prefer everyone refer to her as a girl from now on because that is what she feels to be true.” Hope and Lyall look at Ginny in confusion, she nods. “Yep, okay, so. There are people who are born biologically one gender, but their soul is another, and that’s what has happened here. Biologically Benni, as you know, is male. However she is a girl, and would like to live as one now because, well, why would she want to live as something she isn’t.”

“But she-he…I mean Benni is a boy,” Hope states, quite confused.

Lyall, however, looks thoughtful, “There’s probably some way to use magic to change Benni’s biological gender to fit the way he’s feeling. Then he’d actually be a girl.”

“Which is a wonderful sentiment except for one thing,” Ginny replies, “Some muggles feel this way too, and they can’t use magic to do that. But they still are the gender they identify with, even without the ability to change their biological gender.”

Hope frowns, nodding slowly. “Well, we have some of Jamie’s old dresses, I think, if Benni wants them.”

“Yes, and a couple of her old Hogwarts uniforms. It’s only the tie and coat that actually shows a house so they should work too,” Lyall adds.

“I’m sure Benni would appreciate that a lot,” Ginny says with a big smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry’s got a plan, okay, I swear.
> 
> Y’all have no idea how much of a relief it is to not have to misgender my own character anymore. Literally the amount of pronouns I had to change because it said ‘she’ when Benni hadn’t even realised this yet was a whole situation.
> 
> And I’ve been thinking about it, I’m actually not convinced a pawn can checkmate a king, because like it has to be right diagonally next to something to take it but if it’s that close then the king can take it…I’m not good at chess, is my point, so apologies if Lillie and Harry’s analogy there made no sense.
> 
> Also, I was reading back over a part of The Boy Who Never Cried Wolf while writing this and read through the group’s first interaction with Eleenie. I didn’t notice at the time but without what was going on in my head at the time, Eleenie’s comment about hearing Sirius was attractive came out…well, a little creepy from a Professor to her teenaged student. So I just wanted to explain that when everyone tensed up worried what she would say when she said he wasn’t what she expected, she noticed it. So she made a joke in an attempt to lighten the mood and went with a joke she’d usually say without thinking for a moment about the fact that it wasn’t really appropriate in these circumstances but it’s too late at that point so she just moves on. Anyway, she wasn’t creepily flirting with him, is what I wanted to say, she was actually trying to make him more comfortable by reassuring him she wasn’t just expecting him to be like any other Black and didn’t think it through.
> 
> Apologies to anyone that moment weirded out because literally none of the above sentiment came through in the chapter.


	36. Ring of Fire

Chapter 35 – Ring of Fire

Note: Chapter Title from Johnny Cash’s song ‘Ring of Fire’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Hope frowns, nodding slowly. “Well, we have some of Jamie’s old dresses I think, if Benni wants them.”_

_“Yes, and a couple of her old Hogwarts uniforms. It’s only the tie and coat that actually shows a house so they should work too,” Lyall adds._

_“I’m sure Benni would appreciate that a lot,” Ginny says with a big smile._

Now,

“Harry?”

Harry looks up from the book he’s reading to find Lucius in the library doorway, “Lord Malfoy, good morning.”

“And you as well. You are reading about the Unforgivables,” Lucius says, noticing the book, “What ever for?”

“I’m trying to find out why the killing curse doesn’t work on me,” Harry tells him, seeing no reason to lie when Lucius has seen it fail to kill him. “Hogwarts library including restricted section and the library at Grimmauld Place gave little information, I was hoping there might be more here.”

“Hmm, well, it will have to wait. Your Father has ordered your presence at a meeting,” Lucius tells him.

Harry rolls his eyes but moves to obey. They enter a boardroom to find only his Father in attendance for now. “You know you don’t actually have to order me somewhere, you could just ask, I’m here willingly.”

Tom looks up at his son for a moment, holding his gaze, then nods, “So noted.” Others start filtering in, taking seats, including Greyback and Lillie. Tom nods for his Son to take the one at the other end of the table which he does.

“As you all know, we lost a great many of our children in recent days,” Voldemort begins, Death Eaters around the table nod, Lucius looking at the table with a frown. “When we take control of the Wizarding World, they will have no choice but to return to us. To that end, I know we have been discussing what to do about Inimicus.”

“Inimicus?” Lillie asks before her eyes widen as she realises she spoke, “Heh, sorry.”

“Yes, Inimicus,” Voldemort replies, confused.

Harry clears his throat, “She’s been in India for eight years,” He explains, pretending she does not know Inimicus in order to cover up the slip.

Voldemort nods, “Right, you can explain later.”

“My Lord,” Avery interjects earning a raised eyebrow that expresses interest but little patience. “We know that Inimicus works out of Hogwarts, perhaps it would be possible for Mr Potter to make contact, now that you’ve somehow turned him to our way of thinking.”

“It’s Riddle,” Harry states sharply with narrowed eyes earning shocked looks and a smug smile from his father.

“Can you make contact?” Voldemort asks.

Harry inclines his head slightly, “I can try, but not until school is back. I’ve no idea who Inimicus is, but at school I can put some feelers out. He’ll respond.”

“What makes you so certain?” Corella Zabini asks, sounding unimpressed.

Harry smirks, “Can you think of a better ally to have within Hogwarts than ‘The Boy Who Lived’? Inimicus has beef with Dumbledore, if he sees a chance to turn the Golden Boy against him, he’d be a fool not to take it, and Inimicus is no fool.”

“You’re already against Dumbledore,” Lillie points out.

“Do you really think the Order is going to advertise that fact?” Harry poses, everyone seems curious where he is going with this. “The longer they can keep the Wizarding World thinking that I am on their side, the more stable their following will be. Or so they think.”

“Right,” Daphne Greengrass says, “Because Dumbledore doesn’t realise how many people he’s already lost. If you turn to Inimicus’ side, 90% of Hogwarts students will as well, and their parents are losing faith in him quickly too.”

“A child has sewn this much chaos in such a short amount of time?” Voldemort asks.

“He’s smart, my Lord,” Lucius says, “Of that, there is no doubt. If we can get him on our side before whatever his plan is comes to a head, we will win. Inimicus will make Dumbledore fall either way, but if we make some sort of deal or arrangement with Inimicus, we can come out on top as well.”

“The problem will be convincing him,” Daphne states.

“What do you mean?” Harry asks her.

“Well I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Po-err-Riddle, but Inimicus helps people as much as he hurts. If you want Inimicus to give our cause any kind of chance, you’ll have to convince him it’s the right thing to do, and currently we haven’t the slightest inkling of where he stands on any political or moral issue. All we know is he wants Dumbledore gone.”

“What do you suggest, Miss Greengrass?” Voldemort asks, beginning to think he should have abandoned his old Death Eaters and just used the children from the start.

“I know a Reaper, that’s what his followers call themselves. I can pass along the message that Harry wants to meet. He’s right, he holds power and sway, the simple fact that you’ve got Harry on your side will go a long way to convince him. Afterall, Harry’s spent every year at Hogwarts putting his life on the line to protect people. Everyone knows he’d never side with anyone intending more harm.”

“Which does make one wonder what exactly he’s doing here,” Corella points out, “Did you give up your morals? What do you get out of this, Mr Potter?”

“ _Riddle_ ,” Harry specifies again, “And that’s my business.”

“Will the other children warn students of your switch in allegiances?” Lucius asks him.

“Won’t matter if they do, but no they probably won’t because it won’t matter.”

“Why will it not matter?” Another Death Eater asks.

“Hogwarts is like a separate planet,” Vince states, “With everything that’s been happening, sort of just given up.”

“When shit hit the fan last year with Umbridge we all realised that the adult world doesn’t care,” Daphne explains, “If something’s going on, Hogwarts has to deal with it ourselves, because no one from the outside is going to. Dumbledore, you, neutral, doesn’t matter in there, all of that is left on Platform 9 ¾. Draco and Riddle are friends, Pansy and Mio are dating, Blaise and Lavender…I don’t even want to think about. The separation between houses was given up on earlier in the year because what does any of it matter. If we’re in danger again we’ll have to band together anyway because we’re alone to save ourselves in there.”

“Those loyal to me, should _always_ be loyal to me, in Hogwarts or not,” Voldemort replies sternly. The older Death Eaters look worried for their children, but Daphne just sticks her chin up in the air.

“My Lord, I am loyal, but you have to understand that like Dumbledore has no influence on the student body anymore, neither do you. Your war is out here, we’ve got our own battles to fight in there and allegiance to you won’t help. If we isolate ourselves from those loyal to Dumbledore because we are loyal to you, we’ll be the first to die when the next crisis hits. And it will. It always does,” Daphne tells him, “I’m a Slytherin, my Lord, my self-preservation is strong. Unless you are willing to step into Hogwarts to protect those loyal to you when things happen, this is how it has to be.”

Voldemort is silent for a moment, “Then I suppose you had all best prove your worth outside of school. Contact this reaper friend of yours, skip Harrison entirely. Tell him I want to talk.”

“It could take a few days to get to him. I don’t know much of anything about their set up, but I do know that Inimicus is big cheese, and my friend is small time. I doubt they’re in direct contact, My Lord,” Daphne warns him, showing more respect now.

“Make it happen.”

“Holy shit what is even happening over there?” Pansy asks incredulously as she reads the letter she’s just gotten.

“Where?” Ginny asks as she paints Benni’s fingernails.

“Erm…” Pansy trails off, looking at Little Benni.

Benni sighs, “Inimicus related?” She guesses.

Pansy’s eyes widen, “You’re a reaper?” Benni nods. “I’m on recruitment, how was I not informed about this?”

“Beeecause we were captured for days almost immediately afterward?” Ginny replies.

“Right, well, yeah there’s that,” Pansy says before she sighs, “One of the groups I’m direct contact for informed me that they’ve been informed by one of the smaller groups that Voldemort is looking to meet Inimicus.”

“How did we go from just about to implement the great ineffable plan to scrambling to maintain any semblance of control in just over a week?” Ginny asks irately.

“You were captured for days and we missed our opportune moment and also the casual corpse and now we have to hope that Inimicus is able to pull the reins and get us back on track,” Pansy replies.

“Please, talk about this louder, I don’t think Australia heard you,” Blaise reprimands as he enters the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Oops,” Ginny comments, cringing slightly at how reckless that conversation had been.

“And as for Inimicus, we’ve got new Orders,” Blaise tells them in a significantly quieter voice than the others had been using, holding up his, now blank, parchment.

“Hold on, let me pass on a message,” Pansy requests.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_I’m assuming you are aware, but I just got word that Voldemort is looking to meet you_

_Addens_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

“All right, what’s up?”

“I think he’s going for a bigger result than he was before,” Blaise tells them.

“Probably time spent with his father,” Ginny mutters.

“Right, anyway, He wants us to go ahead with the spell to get Severus to see his vision again. Apparently, all but one of the ingredients is hidden here and the last we can get from here. That’s it for you lot,” Blaise explains.

“What’s the last ingredient?” Pansy asks him.

“Don’t know, apparently Draco will.”

“There’s such a thing as too much delegation, I’m sure,” Ginny suggests with a huff.

“Just get the potion ready. A whole bunch of things are happening at once and I think everything is about to come to a head. We can’t afford to fall behind, unless _you_ would like to explain to him why we haven’t carried out our orders?” Pansy shakes her head, Ginny and Benni then do too. “Then get to work,” Blaise tells them before he walks out, going to find Severus.

Severus looks up at his pseudo-son when Blaise enters his bedroom. “Blaise, what can I-”

“Orders,” Blaise replies quietly, “Polyjuice potion from the attic at school, give it to George, tell him to leave it at the dropsite,” He says before walking away.

Severus goes and does so while Blaise carries out his own orders and writes a letter to the Minister, beginning to build a friendship with the man under the guise of a school project and wanting to go into politics.

That night, after dinner, Voldemort walks into his office, his son beside him, to find a man dressed in black sitting in his seat behind his desk.

“Lord Voldemort, I assume?” comes a garbled voice from behind the mask he wears.

Voldemort raises his head slightly at the audacity of this teenager, “Inimicus.”

“…I’m gonna go,” Harry says from beside him before he backs out of the door and leaves.

“I hear you’ve been looking for me,” Inimicus tells him.

“Indeed, I have. You’ve created quite the stir, for a child.”

Inimicus nods slightly, “Who exactly is it that I am speaking with? Tom Riddle, Roana Gaunt?” Voldemort has to admit, internally at least, that he’s impressed the child was able to gain that much information. “Or perhaps it is Ariana herself.”

Voldemort’s eyes narrow to slits. Or…smaller slits, I guess. “I trust you don’t intend to reveal that information to anyone.”

“That trust would be misplaced,” Inimicus tells him, “I intend to do exactly that once everything is in place. After all, you are the most hated and feared man in the wizarding World. If I can pin you on Dumbledore, bye bye Headmaster.”

“Why are you doing this? What is your goal?”

Inimicus takes a moment to think about this, “There is a mirror in Hogwarts that shows you your heart’s innermost desire,” He says, “I could have had mine, but he took it from me. There’s not a person in Hogwarts who hasn’t lost something to the wars he starts, the enemies he creates. He needs to be stopped and no one else was managing it, so I thought I’d take a crack at it. Seems like it was what I was born to do.”

“And when it’s done?”

“A new world,” Inimicus replies, “A better one.”

“How exactly are you going to manage that?” Voldemort asks as though he were dealing with some pesky child.

Inimicus chuckles, “Well you know what they say, our children are our future. I merely intend to have us shape the world a little sooner than expected. What is it _you_ intend to achieve?”

Voldemort looks at him in poorly disguised shock, “I’m going to kill Dumbledore and take over the world. Rid the world of Muggle-scum, and bring the Wizarding World into a newer, purer, age.”

“It’s funny how you speak of purity. You seem to be the only mutation around, Lord Voldemort.” 

“Surely there is a way we can benefit each other, we have the same goal,” Voldemort justifies, “A new world.”

“I’m aiming for peace, Lord Voldemort, and you are not peace.” With that, Inimicus turns and walks out the door, then straight out the front door of the house, and disappears.

A mere moment later, Harry walks up behind him. “So? How did it go?”

“Just cannot handle unsatiated curiosity,” Lucius comments from where he is beside him.

Voldemort chuckles slightly at that as he turns to them both. “We need to cut him down before he kills Dumbledore.”

“My Lord?” Lucius asks him in shock, “Why?”

“Because if we don’t, we’re next.” He thinks for a moment, then tells Lucius, “Have two lower level grunts go kill a few people, have them claim it is done in Inimicus’ name.”

The two grunts go and do as told. “We do this by order of Inimicus!” They tell the crowd of people who have gathered around the burning house, looking terrified.

One teenager walks forward and scoffs, “Oh, you do not. Inimicus isn’t this bloody sloppy.”

“Excuse you?”

A grown man from the other side of the crowd walks forth and pulls up one of their sleeves, revealing the Dark Mark. “Figures. Everybody knows Inimicus would never work with scum like Voldemort.”

The teenager walks forth again, “Give up, go home, tell your Lord you failed.”

“We still killed the targets!”

“No,” Someone says, walking towards him as they push through the crowd, “You failed at that too. We got them out, they’re on their way to the hospital to treat burns and smoke inhalation. They’re going to be fine.” 

The Death Eaters turn to look at the person and find them to be wearing a mask.

“And who are you supposed to be?”

“I am Amans, second to Inimicus. He doesn’t appreciate attempted murder in his name.”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

“Me? Nothing. Metum, on the other hand…”

“Who?” one of the Death Eaters ask. Amans points behind them and they turn to see a terrifying mask of black and death.

“Tell your Master he has one last chance to stay out of Inimicus’ way. If he doesn’t, he’ll be removed from our way,” Amans tells them. Metum walks around, puts a hand on Amans, and they both disappear. The crowd dissipates, finding no threat in the Death Eaters.

“An adult!” Voldemort looks up, unimpressed by the interruption to his planning with Lucius. He finds the Death Eaters sent to incriminate Inimicus. “Inimicus, he has adults working for him too. We saw one of them there tonight, and we met Inimicus’ second.”

“His second?” Voldemort asks, growing interested.

“They saved the muggle-born we were sent to kill, they cleared Inimicus’ name of the attack, and revealed our Dark Marks. They know it was you. One of the neighbours said your name and a teenager, she ridiculed you. The young no longer fear you, Master. Inimicus’ second had a message for you, that you have one chance to get out of their way or they’ll remove you from it.”

“This second, do they have a name?”

The Death Eater nods, “Called himself Amans.”

“Good. _Avada Kedavra!_ ” Voldemort casts twice, killing both Death Eaters.

Lucius clears his throat, “My Lord, we need to act in some way, or we’ll lose what influence we have.”

“Indeed.”

Remus sneaks into the room he shares in the Fortress with Sirius, quietly getting ready for bed and slipping in beside him.

“Moons?” Sirius asks sleepily as he turns over, throwing an arm across Remus’ chest.

“Hey love, go back to sleep,” Remus replies, kissing Sirius’ head before snuggling in with him. He falls asleep, wondering how long he can keep his happiness this time, and dreading the moment Sirius finds out the truth. Dreading the moment he’s dragged back into a fight he wants nothing to do with.

_“Why are you so afraid of this war?” Bellatrix asks. Remus sighs, tired of these emotionally draining dreams. “Are you afraid of what they’ll do?”_

_Remus shakes his head, “No, I’m afraid of what I’ll do.” Bellatrix looks at him in confusion, Remus sighs, “Back then I wasn’t afraid to do whatever it took to make it end and that got turned around on me so very easily. I…I can’t be what I was and what if this war makes me?” He asks, looking at his hands as they shake._

_Bellatrix nods, walking over and kneeling down on the grass beside him, taking his hands. “No war or curse or bite made you like that, Remus, it’s just who you are. A tad ruthless, maybe even a little bloodthirsty, but a_ brave _and_ good _man. Don’t let them take that from you.”_

Remus wakes up, the only time he’s woken up from one of these dreams about Bellatrix and hasn’t immediately had an emotional breakdown. He stares at the ceiling, he’s not sure how long for, until Sirius wakes up, rolls over, and notices him staring blankly upwards.

“Remus?”

Remus looks at him and sighs, “I don’t want to be afraid anymore, Pads. I don’t want to be afraid of myself.”

Sirius nods slightly, then he sits up in bed. “Come with me, there’s someone I want you to know.”

Ten minutes later the two are walking through a park, “Out of curiosity, I once asked Moody what happened to the Death Eaters we obliviated in 5th year. Apparently, their magic was binded and they were sent to live out the rest of their lives as Muggles, no true punishment forced upon them. Like you said at the time, without their memories, they were blank slates, and innocent.”

“What’s your point, Padfoot?” Remus asks as he stops moving in front of a building at the end of the park.

“One of them opened this place up. It’s a childcare centre for children with disabilities. All their proceeds that aren’t used for maintenance or paying staff is sent one of two places. Either to a charity that helps parents with disabled children pay for care or extra help or wheelchairs when necessary, medical bills, that sort of thing. Or it goes to a medical centre that specialises in cases of amnesia. They do a lot of Research into the causes and possible cures to amnesia,” Sirius tells him. Remus smiles sadly at the building. Sirius turns his face to look at a playground nearby where the children of the childcare are playing on equipment designed for those that would struggle on standard play equipment, ensuring all the children can have fun and enjoy themselves. “That man over there, goes by Roger now. You gave him a second chance at life and look what he’s done with it? If not for you he could be dead, or he might’ve ended up in Azkaban as well. Instead he’s helping people. You look at that day and see only the battle. You forget everything else. You forget that we used almost exclusively defensive spells and potions, aside from the obliviate. You forget that we spent ages beforehand deciding what to do with them so that they would be okay afterwards. You forget that we were only out there to begin with because students were in danger and you wanted to protect them.”

Remus nods slowly, “Thank you, Sirius.”

Sirius smiles lovingly at him, “Anytime.”

“Harrison, where have you been?” Tom asks his son as Harry walks in the front door of the manor.

“Checking in on the kid you didn’t want,” Harry replies, “And it’s _Harry_.”

“You’re who Delphini ended up with?” Lucius asks in confusion as he walks in as well.

“I get the feeling she was passed through a few people before ending up with me. I’m quite convinced that the person who asked me to find a safe place for her has no idea whose child she is.”

“Where is she?” Voldemort asks.

Harry shakes his head, “Safe.”

Voldemort sighs, “Very well. I have a task for you.”

“Which is?” Harry asks obediently, knowing he’ll have to be useful in someway if he wants information about what they’re up to.

“I want to question the Weasley girl. Bring her to me.”

Harry raises an eyebrow, “How? We’ve no idea where the Order is hiding and, after what just happened, no way will she be allowed anywhere on her own.”

“Cause a distraction, lure her out, I don’t much care, Harrison, just get it done, you have two days.”

“What information could she possibly kno-”

Voldemort holds up a hand to cut him off, “Matters of the cause will not be scrutinised by your never-ending curiosity, understood?” He asks sharply.

Harry stares at him for a moment, clearly biting back several unfriendly comments before his gaze seems to soften, slightly, to the confusion of Voldemort. Then a steely resolve as he nods, “Yes, Father.”

“Also, there is someone I would like for you to meet,” Voldemort tells him. He gestures behind Harry to where a large snake is curled up. “This is Nagini.”

Nagini lifts her head, looking over at the boy. Harry makes eye contact, some kind of uncomfortable feeling going through him that he can’t quite explain. _“Hello,”_ Harry greets.

Nagini’s tongue flicks out. _“Young Riddle. Your Father has asked me to keep you from dying. Will that be as difficult as he seems to think?”_

Harry huffs, _“I’ve kept myself alive so far,”_ Harry points out.

The snake seems amused as she nods, _“This is good to hear.”_

Later that night, Lucius knocks on Harry’s bedroom door and enters when told.

“Lord Malfoy?”

Lucius nods, walking in and sighing slightly, “I came to…apologise.” Harry raises an inquisitive eyebrow but says nothing. Lucius continues on his own, “My Lord asked me who you are close with at school, I thought he was curious about his son, I did not expect my answer to be used in a test of your loyalty.”

“I know he is testing me, why this? Why not have me kill her? Surely that would be the ultimate test.”

Lucius nods again, “He knows you would not do it.” Harry frowns in confusion. “He does not wish to push you away.”

Harry looks down at his hands for a moment before he gets back up and paces, “Everyone I have ever had in my life…they lied to me for so long. Father is all I have left now, I don’t want to push him away either. I didn’t…exactly intend to join him. I just saw the spell and…I didn’t want him to die. After I saved him I knew I’d never be trusted by them again. The moment I decided to stay here and help you all and be with him…” Harry trails off, stopping his pacing and looking up at Lucius, “It was like the world wasn’t depending on me anymore, like I’d quit, like I’d finally made a decision for myself and taken control of my own life.” Harry shrugs, “Being here just means I’m taking orders from a different general. Which I knew would be the case, I just wasn’t expecting the Orders to be this difficult to carry out against people I…don’t really want to see outside of school anyway.”

“Severus mentioned that, despite your clear happiness when you were first reunited after his supposed death, you’ve been distancing yourself from Sirius, quite a bit.”

Harry shrugs, seeming vulnerable for a moment because he knows the next thing out of his mouth will be near the only truth spoken in this whole conversation on his part. “He never intended to tell me the truth, he didn’t want me. Father did.” Harry debates with himself for a moment before deciding to continue, “Father told me earlier this year that we’d be together, that we would make a home. I don’t want to be stuck with people who don’t want me around just like I have been for my entire life.”

Lucius is silent for a moment, quite sure that no one on the other-side had realised how much of his issues with accepting his new-found family come from Dursley related insecurities. “I am glad you are here, for your Father’s sake if nothing else. I want him to be happy. But you should know, Harry, that your Mum and Dad would do anything for you.”

Harry nods while pursing his lips, “Except be with me, apparently.”

“I can’t speak to that, all I can say is that, while I may not know what it is, I do know that your parents would only have stayed away from you if they had real and strong reason to believe that was your best chance.”

“That’s a nice thought,” Harry says, real sadness in his eyes, “But I don’t know how to believe it.” Then he shakes himself off, “Regarding Ginny, I have an idea.”


	37. How You Remind Me

Chapter 36 – How You Remind Me

Note: Chapter Title from Nickelback’s song ‘How You Remind Me’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“I can’t speak to that, all I can say is that, while I may not know what it is, I do know that your parents would only have stayed away from you if they had real and strong reason to believe that was your best chance.”_

_“That’s a nice thought,” Harry says, real sadness in his eyes, “But I don’t know how to believe it.” Then he shakes himself off, “Regarding Ginny, I have an idea.”_

Now,

Severus looks at his sleeping daughter, so peaceful in sleep, yet she carries so much while awake. Severus wishes so much was not on her, the memories of her twin, the loss of her friend, growing up with two parents as mentally fucked as he and Remus admittedly are. Yet Benni thrives in school and in life, strong like Remus was as a child, strong like Severus has never been. And all he can do is hope she’s never beaten down like the rest of them have been, he swears once again to do everything he can to make the world safer for her. With that thought in mind, he leaves her room and goes into the cellar of the Fortress where the other Reapers await.

“Are we sure this will work?” Pansy asks in a rare show of nerves.

“Inimicus would not have ordered it if he weren’t sure,” Blaise replies as he leans against the wall beside the door with his arms crossed, a serious expression on his face.

“Yes, but how is _he_ so sure?”

“Because Amans said it would work.”

Pansy looks at Draco, “And you are certain it will work?”

Draco sighs, rubbing at his forehead, “The spell was created by Rowena Ravenclaw herself.”

“Yes, at this point, that’s more reason not to trust it.” The others look at her in confusion. She sighs, “Harry and I gave you the barebones summary of the memory Helena showed us, you know what she and Godric did, but you cannot understand how cold she was without seeing it for yourself. It would be just like her to make a powerful spell that works for as much as it gains her needed information. But the effects it could have on the seer? I really don’t think she cared.”

“It would seem we have little choice, Pansy,” Severus tells her gently, “Hogwarts is in danger, and in my vision there may be the means to save it.”

Pansy bites her lip for a moment before she nods, looking over to where Draco and Hermione are working on the ritual. She nods again, “Okay, let’s do it.”

“So what’s with all the blood?” George asks as he looks at the two vials.

“Blood of the innocent and blood of the guilty. Don’t know whose it is and I was so not asking for an explanation,” Draco replies, the others snicker slightly at Harry’s constant antics that they know better than to question.

“Didn’t you need the blood of the tainted or something?” Ron asks him.

Ginny walks forward, “Ah, this is what he was talking about when he said he needed my blood. Apparently because of the incident with the diary my soul has been ‘touched by evil’.”

“Makes sense,” Blaise comments earning a glare from Ginny. Draco takes a needle and extracts a small amount of Ginny’s blood, putting it in a third vial.

“How do you know how to do that?” Pansy asks him.

Draco shakes his head, “Father needed help looking after Mother towards the end,” He answers quietly. The room turns solemn but Draco ignores it, moving back to the workspace. “Okay so, owl heart, Centaur urine, Werewolf fur, blood of innocent, blood of guilty, blood of tainted, 3 Joberknoll feathers, stewed mandrake, powdered sage, and stem of a dead snowdrop,” Draco recites as he adds them all and mixes it all together, the mixture gradually turning to a paste.

“And now for the gross part,” Hermione says.

“This wasn’t it?” George asks, looking grossed out.

“Uncle Sev, if you wouldn’t mind taking a seat,” Hermione requests, ignoring George entirely. “We have to put this on your eyelids and on the palm of the guider’s hand. I’m thinking Pansy because she will remember every detail, eidetic memory and all.”

Pansy nods, walking over to sit in the chair beside Severus’ and allowing the paste to be put on her palm, though she screws her nose up at it.

“Right, then put your hand over Uncle Sev’s third-eye,” Draco instructs after Severus has closed his eyes and Draco has applied the paste.

“By which he means forehead,” Hermione mutters.

Ron rolls his eyes, “Yes, we get it, you don’t like divination.”

Hermione huffs but otherwise ignores him, “And now you just have to chant this until the vision begins,” She explains, handing Pansy a piece of paper.

Pansy looks at it and nods, handing it back. “All right, ready, Sev?”

Severus nods slightly without dislodging Pany’s hand, “Ready.”

“Revocare volumus, revocare volumus,” Pansy chants a few times before she gasps slightly as she’s pulled into the vision. “Wow,” She states breathlessly, prompting Severus to open his eyes. 

He sees the battle from the vision he had tried so hard to forget. Once more, the courtyard is in shambles. Once more, he sees the Dark Mark on many arms. Once more, he sees Harry running, and he sees him kill someone without a moment of thought or hesitation.

“Holy fuck me,” Pansy gasps, looking around with tears in her eyes. “We weren’t made for this.”

Severus nods solemnly, “Nobody is.”

“How did this happen? How did things get this far?”

“I really don’t know.”

“We have to stop this from happening,” Pansy tells him as the vision repeats from the beginning.

“I’ve never stopped a vision from coming true before. Changed slightly, yes, but not stopped.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Pansy tells him, “Now come on, walk me through.”

Severus nods walking forward, “In there is where future Remus died, over there is where Harry kills someone. There’s trolls and students, McGonagall and Ben-” Severus cuts himself off, staring at the twelve-year-old. She has long hair, looking far more obviously feminine, but he would know his child anywhere. “Benni didn’t exist the last time. I had no hope of knowing she was mine,” He admits quietly, looking around in renewed horror. He shakes his head, “This can’t happen, it _can’t_.”

“We need more, some kind of sign of what lead to this,” Pansy tells him, shaking off that same horror of seeing Little Benni in the middle of such a horrid battlefield. Because that’s what it is, not a school anymore or a safe place, but a place of death and destruction, and it hurts to see her home so broken. She can’t imagine what it was like for Severus to have suddenly seen this as a teenager with no preparation or anything.

“Voldemort lead to this, let’s just kill him,” Severus suggests. Pansy sighs, opening her mouth to talk before Severus cuts her off. “Yes, I know, it’s probably more complicated than that.”

“Oh it definitely is, there’s that whole heir thing to think about.” Pansy frowns, seeming concerned. “That…” She trails off, thinking for a moment. Severus watches her warily but gives her a moment to gather her thoughts. Finally, she continues, “The memory of Helena’s that Harry and I were shown…Rowena said that she and Godric had binded his connection with the castle as much as possible, and that they had to hope his heir was not so powerful as he. I don’t know what that connection was like for Godric before the binding, but if this is Dumbledore with his connection to Hogwarts binded?” Pansy shakes her head, “When we make our move against him, we need to move carefully.”

Severus nods, opening his mouth to speak when they hear a voice in their heads.

“ _You have fought valiantly, but in vain. I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity. Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you. On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you, rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonour. Join me in the Forbidden Forest, and confront your fate. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman and child who tries to conceal you from me_.”

“What the hell was that?” Pansy asks Severus who looks like he’s going to throw up.

“I know why this happened, why they are here.” Pansy looks at him in confusion, he looks back in anger and fear, “He came for Harry. All of Tom is lost under Voldemort. He hasn’t come to get him. He’s come to kill him.”

Pansy looks around, “All of this, it’s all so that he can kill Harry?” Her gaze hardens. “You were right. We kill him before it gets to this point. It’s our only option.”

“It won’t be so easy,” Severus warns her, remembering the horcruxes Harry had destroyed, the one Dumbledore has found, and the fact that they have no idea how many others there could be.

“We _have_ to find a way.”

They come out of the vision and fill the others in.

“Well, that wasn’t helpful,” Ron comments. Severus nods his agreement.

“How are we supposed to know what else he turned into a horcrux?” Pansy asks.

“And how many we should be looking for,” Hermione adds, looking frustrated.

Blaise looks at Ginny, seeing her deep in thought. “You have any ideas, Weaslette?”

Ginny frowns, looking up at them and shaking her head. “No,” She replies simply.

“Then I suggest we all clean up this mess and go to bed, we can’t do anymore tonight,” Severus tells them, seeming just as frustrated as everyone else. 

Blaise grabs his enchanted parchment as the others start cleaning up any trace of their activities. He writes down everything they’ve learned and everything that was talked about through this, addressing it to Harry.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Maybe you should have let the curse hit him after all_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

He adds, even knowing the statement probably won’t be appreciated.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Gather all the information you can find on Horcruxes, tell Neville to put it with his research. I want all of it._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

Is the reply Blaise gets, sidestepping his comment entirely. Privately, Blaise thinks that’s probably for the best and he should count himself lucky for it.

“Anything new?” Ron asks him when he puts the paper away.

Blaise nods, “He wants all the info we have on Horcruxes sent to Longbottom.” Everyone looks confused by that, Blaise shrugs, “I’m not sure that this is a case of we shouldn’t ask about it, so much as is anyone _really_ that curious that they’ll bother to find out when we have fifty million other things going on right now, none of which seems to be controlled?”

“…you have a good point,” Ginny admits as they put away the last of the supplies.

“I’ll get everything to him tomorrow,” Severus says, getting a nod from Blaise before they all head off to their various rooms and gladly collapse into their beds.

Harry wakes up at 3am, a burning sensation coming from his pyjama pocket. He pulls out his enchanted paper, finding a hastily written message from Ginny.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_7_

_He made 7 horcruxes_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

Harry frowns at that, remembering what Severus had said about horcruxes and quickly does the math. The diadem and the diary mean two are already destroyed. He mentioned that he thinks Dumbledore has one, that’s a third. Which means there are four remaining, and they’ve no clue what they could be. 

Then a more pressing concern occurs to him.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Are you certain?_

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Dead certain._

_I remember._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

Harry’s frown deepens, “That can’t mean anything good.” He sighs, regretting the decision he made to stay here with Voldemort. He’s not sure what else he could have done, and now is not the time to second guess himself. He has a plan, a plan now fully formulated. But there’s something in his way, or rather someone. For a moment, Harry’s resolve falters, unsure if, after everything, he still has it in him to do this. To removes his Father from the path, he’ll have to take him out of the equation entirely. At what point does he become like Dumbledore, at what point are his ‘accepted sacrifices’ too many? Bizzarely, it’s Sirius he wishes he could talk to about this, remembering the conversation they once had about good people and Death Eaters. But Sirius isn’t here, and Harry doesn’t know what to do. Can he sacrifice his father, knowing there’s a chance they could find a way to save him? But that could take time, time they don’t have. The window is closing. In Severus’ vision he is seventeen. That gives them less than a year, far less, to finish this business with Dumbledore and deal with Voldemort. Harry sighs, dropping his head into his hands. “What do I do?” He asks out loud, no help is given. No help ever is. Once more, Harry thinks of the phrase that started all of this, thinking that perhaps he’s never felt it to be more true.

The world just truly is not kind.

But now he doubts whether he can make it better.

Remus sits, reading a book on his bed, an Order meeting going on in the dining room downstairs. Every time it happens, he feels no conflict, only an intense relief that he doesn’t have to be involved in it. Not yet, anyway.

“You know, until she started wearing the fancier clothes of a princess, I never quite realised how much our Jamie looks like me.” Remus looks up in shock, seeing Bellatrix sitting on the edge of the bed in front of him. “That blood adoption thing, it really is something,” she continues, “I’m glad she knows the truth about that, and that she took it well. I must admit, I was concerned she’d no longer consider me her mother. I didn’t birth her, and hardly had a hand in raising her. All I did was change nappies.” Bellatrix smiles sadly, “But I loved her, and I am forever grateful you’ve raised a daughter who believes that that is enough.”

Remus looks down at himself and his book, “I guess I fell asleep,” He says in confusion, feeling the pages of the book, the texture unchanged in the dream.

“You aren’t sleeping, Remus,” Bellatrix tells him.

“Then how are you here? The withdrawal is over, I shouldn’t be hallucinating anymore,” Remus tells her sternly.

She smiles at him, “I’m here because you still need me. This thing, with Inimicus, it’s falling apart. All because, whether he’ll admit it or not, Harry doesn’t actually want to make a move against his Father.” Bellatrix moves closer to him and takes his hand.

He stares down in shock, he feels no solid touch like he does in dreams, only a warmth like he felt from her presence in the cell when Lestrange was torturing him. “What are you?”

Bellatrix sighs, “Remy, this plan, this cause, it _must_ succeed. Harry made a promise to me, and I know he’s trying hard to uphold it, but he can’t. The Tom that’s mixed up with Voldemort, he cannot be saved. You must convince Harry of this. He has a plan, he just won’t enact it. But it won’t work forever, he needs to make his move.”

“Promise? What promise? When did you two even talk?” Remus asks incredulously before shaking his head, getting up and backing away from her. “You aren’t real, you can’t know anything I don’t know if you’re a figment of my mind.” Then he looks up in shock, “Except you do. You knew Trixie didn’t remember anything from the time she was under the Moral Reversal Spell. You knew that Voldemort knew about Ella, but I didn’t. And Benni…in the cell, you called her my child and my kid, never once have you referred to her as a boy. You knew about the whole gender thing, how could you have known?”

Trixie smiles at him, “You think I wouldn’t watch over her just because she isn’t mine? She means something to you, Remy. That means she means something to me, too.”

“Y-You…You are her, a ghost, you’re Trixie,” Remus finally stutters out. 

She smiles gently at him but says nothing more about it. “Help our nephew. He needs family, real family, more than ever. You’ve no idea the burden on his shoulders. I didn’t mean to put it there, none of it. And some came from himself, some is situational and some just bad luck. But it’s all there. The weight of the wizarding world, and the weight of his family. You have to convince him to let Tom go. Voldemort _must_ be stopped, he’s the only thing standing between Inimicus and victory.” Remus stares at her, tears in his eyes as he nods. She smiles, stepping forward towards him. “For the record, Remus. I think you and Sirius are cute together. And if I could kiss Severus to show my approval, I would.”

Remus laughs at that, smiling wider than he has in years. “Thank you.”

She nods, fading away with a smile until he stands alone in his room again. He looks out the window thinking over everything that just happened, then he nods to himself. Then he frowns, walking downstairs and luckily getting there as the Order meeting breaks up.

“Severus,” He calls. Severus looks over to him, an eyebrow raised in query. “I forgot to yell at you.”

“What am I getting yelled at for?”

“That fucking maze, what the hell,” Remus replies. 

Severus snickers, turning to an actual laugh as he notices the other Order members remembering their own anger with that maze and turning glares on him. “In my defence, Bella helped make it.”

“Trixie knew shit about Muggle fairytales, that stupid carpet is all on you,” Mary says sternly, though she looks mildly amused.

“Alright, I planned it out, but she made most of it work.”

“If it weren’t for her, we might never have even made it through,” Moody comments, earning a confused look from Sev.

“There was a song, she left clues, it was insane, you knew her, basic Bella stuff,” Sirius explains causing Severus to snicker again.

“’Kay but did you win against the Ninjas?” He asks curiously.

“Didn’t get to fight them, Voldemort turned up,” Tonks says, still glaring at him. “Do you have any idea how many panic attacks in multiple people here that you set off?”

Severus cringes, “Look, no one was meant to be able to get through. It was made to keep wizards out, not anyone with familiarity of muggle fairytales. No one had ever gotten that far into it.”

“You really are a sadistic bastard, that’s all I can say,” Remus tells him.

“Sorry?” He tries, earning many head shakes. “Oh come on, I never expected you lot to have to go through it. I didn’t think anyone would be stupid enough to go in. I didn’t account for total desperation, that’s on me, I’ll admit.”

Sirius steps forward, “You owe us cookies. The good ones. The ones Mrs Evans used to make,” He tells him. Sirius turns to look at the Order, “Trust me, that’ll be worth it.”

Severus huffs out a laugh, giving a nod of acquiescence. “I think some cookies can be arranged.” Sirius nods, then turns and stalks off dramatically earning many eyerolls.

Remus smiles, shaking his head, “I honestly don’t know how I’ve survived so long when these are the people I surround myself with, Severus, Sirius, Trixie, James, honestly.”

Severus chuckles, “Hey, I’m actively friends with three different people who attacked me so.” 

Remus laughs at that, a genuine laugh that some people in this room have _never_ even heard before. “Right, I’m gonna go call Jamie so Benni can talk to her. Try not to induce nightmares in anyone, yeah?”

“So long as you don’t set anything on fire.”

“Fuck off,” Remus shoots back as he moves back up the stairs.

“What the fuck just happened?” Bill asks when Remus is no longer visible.

Severus smiles slightly, “What happened is James Potter being right, one last time.” The others look at him in confusion. “There’s no such thing as one horror too many when it comes to the people you love, not to Re. And I’m not sure I agree with that, I think that frame of mind has caused Remus a lot of pain over the years. But Alastor, you warned them that Re might not come back from what happened.” Severus shrugs, thinking of the progress Remus has slowly but surely been making over the last few months. “I think he just did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyy, good news, next chapter you get to actually find out what Harry’s plan is and everything stops being in utter shambles.
> 
> Sorry that scenes have been a little disjointed for like a chapter or two. Since no one but Harry (and not even him for a while when he had to reshape the plan around new circumstances) really knew what was going on it was quite hard to make them flow nicely because they weren’t exactly connected, if that makes any sense.


	38. And I'm Never Changing Who I Am

Chapter 37 – I’m Never Changing Who I Am

Note: Chapter Title from Imagine Dragon’s song ‘It’s Time’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Severus smiles slightly, “What happened is James Potter being right, one last time.” The others look at him in confusion. “There’s no such thing as one horror too many when it comes to the people you love, not to Re. And I’m not sure I agree with that, I think that frame of mind has caused Remus a lot of pain over the years. But Alastor, you warned them that Re might not come back from what happened.” Severus shrugs, thinking of the progress Remus has slowly but surely been making over the last few months. “I think he just did.”_

Now,

When Lucius walks into Voldemort’s office, it’s to find him pacing back and forth in front of his desk.

“My Lord?”

Voldemort looks over as he stops pacing, pain in his eyes. He reaches out towards Lucius who shuts the door and immediately walks over, taking Voldemort’s hand in his. Lucius leans back against the desk, keeping hold of Voldemort’s hand.

“What’s happened?” Lucius asks him.

“I just heard from our spy.” Lucius raises an eyebrow as Voldemort again looks pained. “Dumbledore believes that I’ve cast the Moral Reversal Spell on Harry.”

“But you didn’t,” Lucius points out.

“Yes, _I_ know that. But the fact remains he had a very quick change of heart. He didn’t argue against handing the Weasley girl over to me. This is the same boy who argued near endlessly over every bloody thing he could the last time we saw him. Suddenly he does everything I say?” Voldemort shakes his head, “I might not have cast it on him, but I think someone did. And if it wasn’t me, and it wasn’t Dumbledore, then there’s only one other possibility.” 

Lucius raises an eyebrow before he realises what Voldemort is hinting at, “Inimicus.”

“The children said so themselves, if Harry were to join Inimicus, most of Hogwarts would follow. Here we’ve been, fighting over him with Dumbledore, totally ignoring the fact that he’s a powerful ally for _everyone_ , and we are no longer the only players.” 

“So what are you going to do?” Lucius asks, tugging Voldemort gently to be closer to him until he can wrap an arm around his waist.

Voldemort sighs, “Dumbledore’s people won’t stop trying to cure him, and since we know it’s possible from Bella’s defection…” Voldemort shakes his head, “Eventually they’ll succeed. If I have him do anything before that happens, he’ll never forgive me.”

“You’ve already given him a task.”

“We have to stop him before he does it.”

Lucius frowns, “He won’t take well to being sidelined. Morals reversed or not, that part of his personality is unchangeable. I would quite literally bet my life on it.”

“We can’t let him leave, we can’t risk Inimicus getting his hands on him.”

“What if he already has? Who knows how long the spell has been on him, he was behaving…irrationally at the end of the school term, as I told you.”

Voldemort shakes his head, moving away from Lucius and continuing his pacing, “We can’t trust him with knowledge of our own actions, we can’t let him leave, we have to make sure he is in contact with no one.”

“The last time you tried to hold him prisoner didn’t go so well,” Lucius points out.

“It will be different this time. He won’t even know we’re doing it.” Voldemort looks over and sees the concerned look on Lucius’ face. He walks towards him, gently cupping his face, “Trust me,” He requests. Lucius nods, Voldemort leans forward and kisses him gently. “Good.”

“What of the Order? Will you stop them when they try to cure him?”

Voldemort shakes his head, “In fact, I intend to offer my help.”

Harry suddenly opens the door and walks in, freezing in shock when he sees their position. “…note to self…knock.”

“How is that not already a habit of yours?” Voldemort asks irately as he steps away from Lucius.

“It’s not like it’s a bedroom!” Harry defends.

“Did you need something, Harry?” Lucius asks him, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Yes, so, I have a plan to get Ginny here,” Harry begins.

“Actually, hold off on that,” Voldemort tells him.

Harry frowns, “But…my plan,” He says, holding up a bit of rolled up paper.

“Do you _want_ to capture her?” He asks his son.

“I want to make you proud, Father. And also I spent most of the night working on this,” Harry admits.

Lucius frowns. Based on his interactions with Harry since being here, he wasn’t sure he agreed with his Lord’s theory of the Moral Reversal Spell. But taking into account his actions at Hogwarts and now, well, _this_ …suddenly it all seems plausible.

Voldemort walks over, putting his hands on Harry’s shoulders, “I _am_ proud of you, Harrison. But this is not the life I said you would have when you agreed to stay with me. We’re leaving Malfoy Mansion, we’re moving to my Manor. You and I, just like I promised.”

Harry looks shocked, then frowns, “What about Lillie?”

“You friend will be with Greyback for the time being, when she returns you will of course be able to see her.” Harry hesitates a moment, then nods, smiling causing Lucius to frown as several pieces fit together in his head. “Go pack your things,” Voldemort tells him. Harry rushes out to go and do just that. “Keep an eye on him,” Voldemort orders Lucius who nods and follows Harry out the door.

Lucius catches up to Harry in his room, knocking on the door frame since the door was open. Harry looks up from where he’s pulling clothes out of the dresser.

“Lord Malfoy, hi. Do you happen to have a trunk I can borrow? I didn’t exactly have a chance to pack for coming here,” Harry tells him.

“You’re not under the Moral Reversal Spell.” Harry looks up in genuine confusion. Lucius rubs at the bridge of his nose, “The spy we have in the Order reported that Dumbledore believes your Father cast the Moral Reversal Spell on you. Knowing that he didn’t, your Father now believes Inimicus cast it on you.”

“Dumbledore doesn’t believe that. The rest of the Order might, but not him,” Harry says, returning to placing folded clothes on his bed.

Lucius frowns, “Why are you so sure?”

“Because Dumbledore’s the one who cast it on me,” Harry tells him. Lucius is shocked silent for so long that Harry looks back over to him. “It _was_ cast on me.”

“How was the spell lifted?” Lucius asks.

“What makes you so certain it was?”

“You hate Dumbledore,” Lucius tells him, “You did before and you still do. Your morals are no different than they were the last time you were here.”

Harry nods, “There’s a way. But I can’t tell you how, it’s…not a feasibly repeatable fix.”

“Harry, this is getting messy and out of control very quickly,” Lucius warns him, eyes filled with a kind of cold concern.

“Well what would you suggest?” Harry asks, frowning. Lucius is right and he knows it.

“Get out of here. Run, hide. You are caught in a tug of war on three sides and they will all go to great, and dangerous, lengths to get control of you. For Merlin’s sake, Albus Dumbledore cast the Moral Reversal Spell on you! Now your Father plans on keeping you in his mansion, without contact outside of it, to keep Inimicus from getting you and keep you from doing anything you’ll regret when you’re ‘cured’.”

“Hey, it’s not like I wanted any of this to happen to begin with!” Harry defends, crossing his arms after throwing the clothes he was holding onto the bed.

“So leave. Leave before you can’t anymore.”

Harry narrows his eyes, then Lucius catches a glimmer of pain from within them. “And if I’m not in as much danger as you think?”

Lucius shakes his head, “No voice modulator will protect you,” Lucius tells him, earning a wide-eyed shock Harry doesn’t quite manage to cover. “Run.”

“I can’t leave Lillie.”

“So long as she remains useful, she will be safer than you. She’ll be safer _without_ _you_. I’ll get her out the moment I can.”

Harry hesitates for a moment, “Leave with her when you do.”

Lucius sighs, shaking his head. “Can you get a message to the Order somehow?” Lucius asks him quietly, Harry nods. “Then you should warn them, The Dark Lord knows where Pettigrew and his family are, and he knows he’s the Secret Keeper.”

“Who is the mole, Lucius? If you want to help, tell me that.”

“I don’t know,” Lucius tells him.

“Is Dray’s broom here?” Harry asks.

Lucius nods, “It’s in his room.”

Harry freezes for a moment, then ducks in and hugs Lucius. “Thank you, Lord Malfoy, for everything.”

Lucius hugs him, then pulls back and looks him in the eye, “Whichever of us sees Draco first hugs him for the other?”

Harry smiles and nods, “Deal.” Then he grabs his wrapped up Inimicus suit and hurries from the room, grabbing Draco’s broom before he flies out of the window at top speed without looking back.

Lucius hurries down the stairs to find Voldemort. “My Lord, Harry, he…” Lucius trails off, “What’s happened?” He asks as he takes in Voldemort sitting behind his desk looking at an unopened letter.

“Corella Zabini is dead.”

Harry flies over fields, doing everything he can to keep out of sight. Eventually he reaches a town, ducking into a side street before he dismounts. Looking around, he’s relieved to find a payphone. He calls Severus’ phone.

“Hello?” Severus asks in confusion as he answers his phone. Benni looks up in confusion from the homework her Papa had been helping her with. Severus shrugs at her.

“Okay so shit has hit the absolute _fan_ ,” Harry begins without preamble.

“H-” Severus begins to say before he’s cut off.

“Just shut up for a second! They know about Pettigrew, they know he’s your secret keeper, and they know where he and Bridget live. They know about Rema. You have _got_ to get them out of there. And for God’s sake, find that fucking mole!” Harry tells him before he hangs up. He gets the Knight Bus to another location, flies for a bit more, and eventually ends up at Potter Mansion.

“Master Potter!” The houselves all greet, Dobby moving forward with Delphini in his arms.

Harry looks at his baby sister, taking her in his arms. He looks back at the house elves. “Looks like I’ll be staying for a while,” He tells them. They seem happy, and as he looks around the Mansion he feels the warmth that once inhabited it. He looks down at his sister again. “I’ll fix this for you, all of it, I swear.”

Severus stares down at the phone after the line disconnects, then he jolts up, sprinting into the dining room where Moody, Tonks, Sirius, and Ginny are talking about old stories that he’s fairly certain Molly wouldn’t want Ginny hearing.

“Severus?” Sirius asks in concern as he all but flies into the room.

“The Pettigrews, we need to get them here. _Now_!”

None of them hesitate, even Ginny doesn’t complain about staying behind, knowing the precious time that would eat up. Instead, she collects Order members, getting Mary to call for the others.

By the time Moody and the others get back, the Order, and Remus, is waiting to find out what the hell is going on.

“The mole told Voldemort who the secret keeper is,” Severus tells them, gesturing at Peter, “and where he lives.” He internally begins trying to find out what the fuck he’s supposed to say when they ask how he knows that. Because the mole is in this room too, and whatever he says, they will hear as well.

“Shit,” Kingsley mutters, rubbing his hands over his face.

“How did you know?” Mary asks, arms crossed and frowning, obviously off-put by the reminder of this mole they’ve been unable to uncover.

“I got tipp-” Severus trails off, eyes widening slightly as though he’d just had an epiphany.

“What have you just worked out?” Arthur asks him, curious but also worried about the entire situation.

“A potion. I think we can cure Harry with a potion,” Severus tells them, eyes flitting back and forth slightly, pretending to be thinking over possibilities, “and I think I know what to make.”

“…well go do it then!” Remus tells him, the others nodding. Severus nods, rushing out of the room.

Moody huffs as he drops into a chair, others following suit. “We need to find this spy.”

A few hours later, Severus comes back with a random harmless potion he’s whipped up. “I’ve got it!”

“You’re sure it’ll work?” Sirius asks, grabbing the potion from him.

“Of course not, it’s never been tested. But it’s all we’ve got.”

“How do we get it to him?” Del asks, “We can’t just waltz into Malfoy Manor.”

Sirius looks up with a steel glint in his eye. “Desperate times,” He says, moving towards the floo.

“Sirius!” Del calls loudly, everyone rushing after him.

Severus, Remus, and George exchange panicked looks. No non-reaper can be the one to do it. 

Severus leans over, a sad look in his eye, “If I don’t come back…make sure the kids know I love them,” He tells Remus who looks back with shock.

“Sev, you can’-” Severus ignores him.

He grabs Sirius by the shoulder, “Harry needs a Dad to come home to,” He tells him, grabbing the potion from his hand.

“No one is going like this!” Molly screeches at the idiots around her. Sirius looks Severus in the eye, then he nods.

Severus jumps into the floo and goes to Malfoy Manor amidst the yelling of the entire Order telling him not to.

Severus skids out of the floo and into the entry hall of Malfoy Manor, raising his hands as Death Eaters immediately point wands at him.

It’s mere moments before Voldemort and Lucius come to see what the kerfluffle is about.

“Severus? Now this is a surprise,” Voldemort tells him.

“I can cure Harry. I know you know he’s cursed,” Severus explains, hoping enough of Tom is present to let him do so, “I can fix him. Let me help your Son.”

Voldemort crosses his arms as he looks him over.

Lucius leans towards Voldemort slightly, “You did say you would help them do so,” He reminds quietly.

Voldemort nods and sighs, looking at the ground before back up at Severus, “Yes, unfortunately, Harry isn’t here.”

Severus raises an eyebrow, genuine shock on his face, “What are you talking about? Where is he?”

“We don’t know,” Lucius tells him, “He ran off.”

“We think he picked up on the fact that we knew he was cursed. We were going to, how is it Muggles put it, ‘bench’ him,” Voldemort explains, using a muggle phrase to emphasise Severus’ place in society. Now no longer a Death-Eater and instead just another half-blood who Voldemort will not hesitate to kill.

“Shit,” Severus mutters.

Lucius looks at Voldemort, pulling a letter out of his jacket pocket and raising an eyebrow in question.

Voldemort nods again, “Severus, today, because your intent is to help my son and you cannot do so while dead, I am going to let you leave.”

Severus looks at him in suspicion, “Why would you do that?”

He takes the letter from Lucius and gives it to Severus, “So that you may pass on a letter from Corella to her son. A traitor though he may be, she served me well.”

“Served, past tense?” Severus asks, as he takes the letter and sees Blaise’s name on it in Corella’s hand-writing.

“Her body was found this morning.”

“How did she die?” Severus asks in shock, shoving the letter into his pocket.

Lucius looks to the ground in grief, “Suicide. We don’t know why.”

“I suggest you leave now,” Voldemort tells him, nodding to the floo behind him.

Severus hesitates a moment more, then leaves. He floos to the house in France first, and then back to the Fortress. Paranoid, perhaps, given the Fidelius charm, but he’s taking no chance.

“Severus!” Practically everyone in the room calls as he steps back through. He leans on the wall for a moment, shock in every line of his body.

“Well, what happened? Where’s Harry? Did it work?” Sirius asks in rapid fire.

“Let him breathe, Sirius!” Mary tells him.

“EVERYBODY SHUT IT!” Del yells. Instant silence falls over the room. “Sev, what’s wrong?” Everyone looks to Severus, only now noticing the shock on his face, but also the weariness and the grief.

Severus takes a deep breath, “Um, Harry ran off. Voldemort tried to take him out of the war when he realised the curse he was under, and Harry didn’t take kindly to that. He ran, they don’t know where he is.”

“Why did they let you go?” George asks as everyone processes that.

Severus is silent for a moment before he looks up at them all, “I need to talk to Blaise.”

“Sev, what happened?” Remus demands.

He looks back at him, “It’s Corella.” Severus looks down at his hands as he pulls out the note, “She left a letter for Blaise. Lucius asked me to deliver it.”

Everyone falls silent again as they realise what happened.

“Merlin,” Mr Polka mutters under his breath.

“Go, both of you,” Moody tells Severus and Remus who quickly exit the room.

“Well,” Sirius says after a moment, “This has been a trying few days.”

Remus knocks on the door of the Bedroom Blaise and Draco are sharing. 

“Come in!” Draco’s voice calls. They enter to see most of the kids watching an intense chess match between Blaise and Ron.

“Blaise,” Severus states. All the kids look over in concern at the tone.

Blaise frowns, taking in the expression on their faces. He’s not sure how to describe it, but it worries him. “What’s going on?”

Severus and Remus exchange looks before looking back at him, “We need to talk.”

“About what?” Blaise demands.

“About your Mother.”

The other kids exchange looks behind a shell-shocked Blaise. “We’ll give you the room,” Pansy tells them, taking Hermione’s hand as they all filter out.

Remus and Severus sit down beside Blaise who looks back and forth between them in concern.

“What happened to her?”

“…She’s dead, Blaise,” Severus tells him, to the point but gentle.

Blaise nods, “Yeah, picking up on that, I more meant what idiotic thing did she do?” he asks, anger but also tears in his voice.

Remus puts an arm around his shoulders, “Are you sure you want to know that?” Blaise nods. Remus looks to Severus who sighs and nods.

“She killed herself, Blaise. We don’t know why. But she left a note for you that might shed some light on that.” 

Blaise looks at the letter Severus is passing him, taking it with shaking hands. He shakes his head, not able to believe what he’s hearing. “She wouldn’t have. Not…not that, no,” He tells them, looking between them again as tears start falling from his eyes. Severus and Remus hold him as close as they can manage as he cries.

When he calms a bit, they pull back slightly. Blaise looks at the letter before he shakes his head. “Could I have a minute alone to read it?” He asks them, they seem hesitant but nod.

“We’ll be right outside,” Remus tells him. Blaise nods but he’s not really focusing on them anymore.

Once the door closes, Blaise opens the letter.

_Blaise,_

_I apologise that I could find no way to tell you this in person, but still I find I cannot take necessary action until I am sure you will know._

_With my death will no doubt be a recurrence of curiosity about your Father’s. It is likely you will hear old theories that many held. They, including your dear Severus and Lord Malfoy, believe I was the one to murder your Father._

_I swear to you, Blaise, this is not true._

_They think I married your Father for his money, but that is not true either. The Zabinis hid it well but after an incident involving the Parkinsons, both families were left in a similar situation of financial crisis. Your Father’s family had little money, at least in comparison to how it was perceived amongst Pureblood circles._

_I did not marry Ray for his money, I did it because I loved him._

_During our argument you raised some good points. I have not been a good Mother to you. But you were wrong as well. You said that I have never loved you and that could not be more wrong. When you were born, your Father and I were so happy. We wanted the world for you._

_I still do._

_After your Father died, something inside of me broke. All those partners I had, everyone was right. It was their money I was after, we had none and I wanted to give you a good life. I have never had prospects for jobs, Blaise, but this I could do. I did whatever I had to to give you the best chance I could._

_And that is what I am doing now._

_Remus and Severus are your guardians now, your family. Just like you wanted. They will look after you, be the parents to you that I never could just as they have always been. A loving family is the last thing I can do for you, but I find that I cannot sign the adoption papers._

_I cannot be alone._

_So, with my death, I give you the life you should have had. One with a loving Father, or in this case two. One with warmth and safety. One free from bigotry and hatred._

_Though I have no right to ask anything of you, I do have one last request._

_Believe me. Like no one else ever did._

_With ever-lasting love,_

_Mama_

Blaise stares at the letter for long moments after he reads it. “You idiot,” he mutters as more tears fall, “I didn’t want the adoption, I wanted you to try harder to be a better mother.” He rolls his eyes, “You weren’t supposed to give up, you stupid woman.” He holds the letter close to him, hugging it in a way he can no longer hug her, not that that ever really happened anyway. “I believe you, Mama. I believe you, and I love you.”

Blaise gets up, walking to the door and opening it. He finds Severus leaning on a wall and Remus sitting against it, talking quietly between themselves though they shut up as the door opens and both stand up. Blaise just moves forward, hugging them both. They hug him back without hesitation. In this moment Blaise is more sure of two things than he ever has been before.

He is loved

And he is not alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I was wrong, Harry’s plan didn’t make it into this chapter.
> 
> .
> 
> .
> 
> .
> 
> Sorry :/
> 
> Also thanks to the anonymous guest who left a review yesterday about when I was going to update, it finally prompted me to actually do so. 😊


	39. I Can Feel Your Halo

Chapter 38 – I Can Feel Your Halo

Note: Chapter Title from Beyoncé’s song ‘Halo’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_In this moment Blaise is more sure of two things than he ever has been before._

_He is loved_

_And he is not alone._

Now,

As the rest of the kids in the house sit in Pansy, Astoria, Ginny, and Hermione’s room, Ginny feels a heat coming from her pocket.

She leans back slightly to ensure that Ron’s back is blocking everyone’s view of her before she pulls out her enchanted paper.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_You’re the only one with a hope of knowing how to find these horcruxes. We need to know what happened. If you don’t remember everything now, we need to find a way to bring those memories of the diary back. There’s no other choice._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

Ginny stares at the page before she shakes the message away and shoves it into her pocket. She makes some comment about getting snacks, she’s really not sure what exactly she said, and leaves the room.

She heads downstairs where the Order still is, Dumbledore having been called in to get up-to-date.

“Headmaster,” She calls as she steps into the room. Dumbledore looks over in confusion. She takes a deep breath, “Could I have a word?”

He, and everyone else, looks confused, but nods and follows her into the study where she shuts the door.

“Is everything all right, Miss Weasley?” Dumbledore asks her.

Ginny shakes her head, “No, it isn’t. I…I didn’t want to know before, truly I didn’t. I was sure I never would. So I didn’t ask. But given that he’s back, given everything that’s happened, I have to know.” Dumbledore looks mildly concerned but nods for her to continue. “What was that diary? What was that _thing_ that kidnapped me? What did it do to me?”

Dumbledore nods, understanding dawning on his face. “Have a seat, Miss Weasley,” He says, indicating towards a couch in the room. He takes a seat on the opposite end of it. “The diary held a portion of Tom Riddle’s soul. It has been destroyed, you are safe from it, I assure you.” Ginny’s brow wrinkles as she wraps her arms around herself. “He didn’t just kidnap you, did he?” Dumbledore asks as he takes in her reaction.

“I don’t know. I don’t remember it, not really. But…sometimes…” She trails off for a moment before she continues, “Sometimes I dream about the writing on the walls, about being the one to put it there, and I think that maybe he got to me before I disappeared. But how could he have made me do anything? He was just a whisper, not even a ghost, not really.”

“Even whispers have the power to change a person’s mind, Miss Weasley,” Dumbledore replies, “It is possible he made you do it. But he is gone now, your mind is your own, take comfort in that.”

“I’m not sure I can, Headmaster. Not until he’s gone for good. And certainly not while he’s got one of my best friends, and has warped his mind too.” Ginny lets a tear fall down her face before she looks back up at him, “I-If you knew where he was, could you save him? Would Professor Snape’s potion really work?”

“No one knows that spell better than your Professor. I have the upmost confidence in his cure.” He looks at her gently, encouragingly, “Do you know where he is?”

Ginny bites her lip, “No, but I might have a way to find out.”

Dumbledore nods, “And is it safe?” Ginny nods. “We cannot help Harry until we know where he is.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Ginny gets up and leaves the room, running into Remus on the stairs as he heads down them. “Professor,” She says, grabbing his attention. “Professor, you knew of a way to remove memories,” She says quietly, “Do you know of a way to retrieve ones that have been blocked out?”

Remus frowns slightly but nods, “A pensieve. Harry doesn’t _remember_ what happened when he was a year old, but he could show it because it _was_ there. If you can think of the time the memory should have taken place, the same way you pull a memory out to put it in a pensieve should find it. You can partially use it to draw the memory out without pulling it out entirely.”

Ginny nods slowly, then faster, “Thank you.” She begins walking away before she stops and turns back to him, “Is Blaise all right?”

“…No,” Remus replies honestly, “But he will be, one day. It’s just going to take time.”

Unable to wait, and knowing the Fidelius Charm will prevent the ministry from locating the use of underage magic, Ginny locks herself in the bathroom. She looks at herself in the mirror, “I’ve got to know,” She says, “Not for Harry, for me. I’ve got to know what happened to me.” She nods to herself, sitting on the closed lid of the toilet as she pulls her wand out and points it at her head, focusing on the time she had the diary. She starts performing the Memory Extraction Spell, and feels the memories shifting in her mind as these fight through the self-imposed block in her mind. The moment she feels them break through she stops casting the spell, dropping her wand and grabbing her head. She falls to the ground as the memories come flooding back.

_“Hello Ginny.”_

She hears from within her mind. Her eyes fill with tears, “Tom? I-It worked? You’re okay?”

 _“I am. Are you?”_ His voice sounds filled with concern.

Ginny feels conviction fill her, “Yes. And I know how to save you, how to give you your life back.” She shakes her head, “But for now, I need to know everything you’d already planned for the horcruxes.”

Half an hour later, Ginny pulls out her enchanted paper, a plan forming in her mind.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_So, here’s what I’m thinking. You tell Dobby where you are, I call Dobby, Dobby tells me, I tell the Order. Severus takes the potion to ‘cure you’ to wherever you are. You get ‘cured’, but refuse to come back, be done with the war. Then you can go horcrux hunting before school comes back and destroy them with a basilisk fang next term._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

She waits a few moments before the answer comes.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Do it._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

Ginny leaves the bathroom, going into the bedroom only to find everyone has left. She heads downstairs, finding everyone at dinner.

“Ginny, finally,” Ron comments.

“How do we call for a House-elf that doesn’t serve anyone?” Ginny asks.

“Think hard enough about them and they should feel the pull of a summons. It’s just that now they’ll have the chance to ignore it should they choose,” Draco replies.

Ginny nods, “Cool, because I had a thought. Harry’s bloody useless.” All of the kids nod to that. “So, if he needs to get from place to place, and needs someone totally loyal, who’s he gonna call?”

“Ghostbusters?” Tonks offers, earning amused looks from those often in the Muggle world except Mary, everyone else looks confused. “Nevermind.”

“Dobby!” Hermione realises. Ginny nods even as she starts thinking of him as hard as she can. Dobby appears before her.

“How can Dobby help Ginny Weasley?” Dobby asks instantly.

Ginny smiles, “Hey Dobby. I need to know where Harry is.”

Dobby’s eyes widen as he shakes his head and steps backwards, “Dobby can’t tell Ginny Weasley that. Dobby promised.”

“Dobby,” Ron says as he comes over and kneels beside the elf, “Harry’s in some trouble, but we can help him. We just need to find him.”

Dobby hesitates for a moment before he nods, “Harry Potter is at the Potter Mansion.”

“Right, I’m going this time. Severus, give me the potion,” Sirius demands.

“Sirius, is that a good idea? He seemed pretty angry at you,” Severus points out.

“Then he’ll be angry at you as well. I’m his Dad, let me save him,” Sirius requests.

Severus grimaces as he hands over the potion, knowing there’s no real argument he can make this time without seeming suspicious. They’ll just have to hope Harry’s acting skills are up to snuff.

Dobby takes Sirius to Potter Mansion where he finds Harry at the dining room table. Sirius forces back the memories seeing a teenager who looks so much like James sitting at this table brings back. So many Christmases, so many Order Meetings. So much time. But none of that matters. Not when Harry needs him.

He hides behind the wall, giving Dobby the potion to put into Harry’s drink which he then serves him. Harry drinks from it immediately as Dobby poofs away. Sirius walks into the room, hoping beyond hope that his son will be okay.

“Harry?” 

Harry’s head whips round, taking Sirius in. He wonders why it isn’t Severus, and instantly realises he needs to act. He looks down at his drink, assumes the potion ended up in that, and then looks back up. He throws himself at Sirius, hugging him tightly.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t…I didn’t mean what I said, I didn’t mean what I did, oh my god,” Harry says as he cries into Sirius’ shoulder. It takes Harry a while to realise the tears aren’t fake, to remember that that spell _was_ cast on him, that he _did_ hurt his friends, emotionally if not physically. He made Benni cry. 

Sirius holds him close, tears in his own eyes that he ignores to comfort his son, “It’s all right Harry, it wasn’t you. It wasn’t you.” A while later, when Harry has calmed down, Sirius pulls back slightly to look him in the eye, keeping hold of his shoulders. “Harry let’s go home, the others are worried, your friends miss you.”

Harry shakes his head, “They should hate me. I was gonna take Ginny to him. I would’ve done it, I would’ve given him Ginny, how could I have even considered it?”

“It didn’t happen,” Sirius reminds him.

“Only because bloody _Voldemort_ stopped me. What the hell was that about anyway?” Harry asks, devastation still clear on his face, “Oh my God, Lillie. She’s with Greyback!”

“We’ll save her,” Sirius says simply. He looks at Harry intently, “Harry. Ginny’s fine. Everyone is fine, Lillie is going to be fine. There is enough bad going on, don’t spend your time worrying about Bad things that haven’t even come to pass.”

Harry frowns, eyes glassy with tears as he nods. “I don’t want to go back,” Harry whispers.

“You won’t, you never have to go back to him.”

“No, to the Order, to the war, to any of it,” Harry tells him, tears falling again and voice thick with pain. “I’ve lost so much, Sirius. I can’t lose my mind too. I have to get out, I have to stay out, I can’t do this. I don’t want to be a part of this war, I just want to be safe, I don’t want to go back, please don’t make me go back!” Harry begs.

Sirius pulls him close again, debating for a moment before he nods, “Okay. Okay, you don’t have to go back. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Sirius sits him back down at the table, taking a seat beside him and holding him until he calms down again.

Sirius takes a fortifying breath, knowing that the things Harry said were true, even if he didn’t mean to say them. “Harry…I owe you an apology.”

Harry raises an eyebrow, “What did you do?”

“I didn’t tell you the truth, when we met in that shack.” Harry looks gobsmacked that he’s bringing it up and confused where it even came from. Sirius nods, smiling ruefully, “It wasn’t anything to do with you, which was my second mistake. I didn’t feel like I deserved to have my son with me after I abandoned you to begin with. James was such an amazing person and I felt like you were better off believing you were his kid than being stuck with the guy who left you behind, an act I can never apologise enough for.”

“Why are you saying this?” Harry asks, voice thick though he refuses to allow any emotion to show on his face. Why he bothers, considering his breakdown moments earlier, he’s not sure. But that was one thing, this is…too much.

“When we were trying to rescue you, we had to go through this maze that…it was a situation. But one thing it did was make us hear…echoes, I guess, of our worst mistake. And then we were faced with the people we care about agreeing with…our worst thoughts about those moments, and about ourselves.” Sirius looks at his hands as he leans back against the back of the chair. “I saw your mother, she was telling me that I didn’t deserve to have you with me, and that’s when I realised. You were the one who suffered because of my decision. It’s not about what I deserve, it’s about what you do. You deserve a Dad who does not lie to you, and one who can admit his mistakes, and one who is here for you, and I wasn’t. You deserve to have a Dad and I took that option from you. I’m sorry.”

Harry nods slowly, unsure what to say or how to feel or react or anything. For some reason though, it’s his baby sister that comes to mind, and the fact that she’s been hidden away with house elves and no people for far too long. “In the spirit of not lying to me, can I ask you a question?”

Sirius looks mildly surprised, having been expecting a worse reaction, but nods instantly, “Of course.”

“I know my Father is all mixed up in Voldemort and Roana Gaunt, and believe me I saw what he’s like when I was there. But is there a way to save him?”

Sirius sighs slightly, “I don’t know, Harry. But…” Sirius hesitates for a moment before he continues, “Your father was a very close friend of mine for many years. And I have to wonder what it would do to him if we did save him.”

“What do you mean?” Harry asks in confusion.

“He’s done some really bad things, Harry. And if we save him he’ll look at his actions through the lens of actually caring, and having morals, and loyalty, and love.”

Harry’s eyes widen as he realises what Sirius is suggesting. Tears fill his eyes marginally. “Before the spell, before it happened, when I was still me, he asked me to join him, while he had us captured.”

“No, he didn’t. Voldemort did.”

Harry nods. “I wouldn’t have helped Jamie hide you when you escaped if I didn’t want you around, Sirius.” Sirius looks a little shocked at the sudden change in topic but nods, a small smile forming on his face. Harry clears his throat, “Besides,” He says, “You might not have saved me back then, but you just did, and I’m pretty sure that evens the scales.” And really, Harry genuinely believes that. He thinks that maybe, if he had the chance to try, if things weren’t such a mess, maybe he could find a way to let it all go and just _have_ a Dad. But things aren’t like that, and Harry has a job to do. “You should probably tell the others that I’m okay.”

Sirius hesitates, “Harry, you can’t just stay here alone.”

“I’ll be fine on my own for the three days before School comes back,” Harry assures him, then he frowns, thinking of Delphini again and making another decision about her. “But…I mean you don’t have to stay at Headquarters to help the Order, do you?” Sirius shakes his head because if it means being with his Son, he’ll make it work. “It’s just…I mean it was fine before, it’d be fine again, but maybe she’d be better off…” Harry frowns in thought before he nods. “There’s something I haven’t told you, recent events have certainly shown me I made the right decision to hide it. She was safer, you see, not being associated with me. I didn’t want her to be hurt because someone was trying to get to me, it’s happened before and after watching Cedric-” Harry cuts himself off.

“He was the boy that Peter killed?” Sirius asks, Harry nods. “He was more than just a friend, wasn’t he?” Harry nods again. “So who is it you’re trying to protect now?” He questions, taking hold of Harry’s hand to give comfort.

Harry hesitates a moment longer before he nods, getting up, “It’s easier to show you.” 

He leads Sirius up the stairs to the nursery where Delphini is taking a nap. Sirius’ eyes widen at the bassinet. He looks back at Harry in shock. Harry shifts on his feet for a moment. “Harry, whose child is this?”

“Mine,” Harry answers, “Her name’s Delphini but, I’ve been calling her Delphi for short.”

“After your mother?” Sirius asks in shock, Harry nods, seeing as Tom almost definitely had Del in mind when he named her. “Who’s her mother?”

Harry shakes his head, “Not in the picture.”

Sirius moves closer to the child, gently touching her cheek. “Holy crap, I’m a grandfather.”

“The house-elves were going to look after her when I go back to school like they have been so far. I’ve come back when I can but, there weren’t a lot of choices when no one knew she existed.”

Sirius nods, “Harry, you’re right. Until this war is over, she should remain hidden.” 

“I know,” Harry says in agreement, “But I thought maybe you could keep her company sometimes while I’m gone.”

Sirius looks up at him, smiling as he nods. “Harry, I know it never happened for you like it was supposed to, but when this war is over I am going to make damned sure that this kid doesn’t have to hide. It’ll be safe for her to be with her family. You’ll both be safe.”

Harry gives a breathy laugh, nodding, “So long as she’s safe, nothing else matters.”

Sirius smiles proudly as he pulls his son in for another hug, “I know the feeling.” He frowns in thought as he pulls away from Harry again. “Also, do we need to talk about birth control?”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Harry replies quickly, “Nope, made that mistake once, made damned sure I knew everything I needed to to make sure it didn’t happen again,” He explains with a grimace. Then his eyes widen slightly, he looks to Delphini, “No offence,” He says quietly.

Sirius snickers.

When he finally makes it back to the Fortress there are many frantically pacing or otherwise fidgeting people waiting. Del rushes over when she sees him.

“Where the hell have you _been_?” She asks, “You took forever. Where’s Harry? Did it not work?” She asks frantically as she notices he came back alone.

Sirius leads her over to the table where many are sitting and waiting to hear. “Harry’s fine. It worked,” He assures them, the relief in the room is palpable. “I took a long time because he, understandably, was a little worked up when he realised what had happened.” Instantly, everyone is concerned again. “He’s not coming back.”

“ _What_?!” Everyone asks/screeches.

“He’s not coming back,” Sirius repeats. “He’s scared, he’s sick of being used and hurt. He’s a kid, he wants to be safe,” He explains, “So he’s decided to stay away and not be involved.” He sighs, “I have news on Lillie, though,” He tells the Polkas when he sees them there. They both sit up straighter, looking desperate for information. “She’s with Greyback.”

“We have to get her back,” Remus states strongly.

“Thought you weren’t re-joining the Order?” Mundungus comments more than questions.

“This isn’t about the fucking Order. I’m not leaving a teenager at the mercy of Fenrir Greyback!” He shoots back angrily.

“We still need to get my sister,” Astoria reminds them.

Moody nods, “We’ve got an assault plan, and the timing just moved up. Tomorrow. We rescue them tomorrow. But I am going to need something from you,” Moody tells Remus. Remus nods though his brows crease in concern. “I’m gonna need a few of those invisibility cloaks.”

Harry picks up Delphini from her basinet as she wakes up. “Hey, Delphi.” Harry frowns, then he smiles at her, “Got some news. I’m your Dad now. I know, it’s weird and sudden. But I promised to look after you, and I know from experience what it’s like to know your parents when they’re parents like that. This is best way I know how to protect you. Don’t worry,” He tells her, “I’m going to do everything I can to be a good Father. Every-bloody-thing I can.” He nods to her, “I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I had to do something with her so, after many long internal debates about Delphini and what should happen to her or even if she should be in the story, I realised Harry wasn’t going to let her childhood be the mess his was and the only way to ensure she was looked after was to do it himself.


	40. Safe and Sound

Chapter 39 – Safe and Sound

Note: Chapter Title from Taylor Swift’s song ‘Safe and Sound’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“We’ve got an assault plan, and the timing just moved up. Tomorrow. We rescue them tomorrow. But I am going to need something from you,” Moody tells Remus. Remus nods though his brows crease in concern. “I’m gonna need a few of those invisibility cloaks.”_

Now,

George sits at the dining room table in the Fortress, rubbing at his forehead in exasperation. They had a plan, and it had been a good one. Dumbledore disagreed.

“We are so few in numbers as it is, Alastor. We cannot lose more on a full frontal assault against the enemy headquarters, teeming with fanatic Death Eaters,” Dumbledore tells them sternly.

Remus narrows his eyes at the man and George feels the tension in the room grow as everyone braces themselves. “We’re talking about children.”

“They made their choice.”

“Like fuck they did!” Remus all but yells, “You think any of them were given a damned choice? You think anyone has had a choice in any of this? We’re at war, Albus, all the kids are trying to do the best they can in a situation they could never prepare for.”

“As I recall, you managed that just fine,” Dumbledore responds.

Remus scoffs, “Your memory is faulty. As I recall, I broke before it ended, was useless for the rest of it, and continued being useless for fifteen years.” Remus steps closer as he sees the hesitation on Dumbledore’s face. “I don’t want to see another generation of broken children. We can save them, right here, and right now.”

“Rem-”

“Well what the hell are we even fighting for if not our children?” Remus challenges, surprisingly calm as he cuts Dumbledore off. Everyone waits, unsure who will look away first. 

Then Dumbledore nods, “Very well.”

Harry screws his nose up as he steps out of the floo, unhappy to be back in Grimmauld Place. He’s never liked this house, it’s always reeked of pain. Still, Ginny had said there’s a horcrux here. Harry’s not sure how she knows this, but he’s not really interested in ‘how’ at the moment. He _has_ to get this done. The sooner Voldemort is weak enough to know Harry could kill him in a second, the sooner Dumbledore falls. It’s the last piece of the puzzle, and then Harry’s plan can finally come to fruition.

“Okay, if I were an evil locket, where would I be?” He asks himself as he walks into the house proper. Instinctively, he heads to the attic first. But while walking up, he feels a pull, hears whispered words, and wonders how he didn’t notice it before. He walks into the room with Regulus Black’s name on it and finds a woman standing by the window, he freezes. She turns around, a smile on her face. It doesn’t exactly relax him, not when he recognises her as Bellatrix Black.

“Hello Harry,” She says.

Harry blinks, “Erm, don’t take this the wrong way but uh, aren’t you dead?” Bellatrix giggles slightly, then reaches out to the wall, her hand passing right through. “You don’t look like a ghost.”

“I’m not,” She says, “Not exactly. Actually, I’m not sure what I am. But I’m here to help.” She points to a dresser across the room, “You will find what you’re looking for in there.”

“Why are you helping me?” Harry asks, even as he walks towards the dresser, “I mean, why are you here, how are you here? I don’t…I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“I came to help you, Harry. But also to thank you.” Harry looks at her in confusion, she smiles sadly. “Delphini.”

Harry’s eyes widen with understanding, “Oh.” He turns away, locating the locket and picking it up, grimacing at the feeling of it. He looks back at Bellatrix hesitantly, “I’m not sorry I lied. About who she is, I mean.”

Bellatrix shakes her head, “You did the right thing. And I know you’ll be a wonderful father.”

“How do you know?” He asks, looking nervous.

“Because you care. That’s step one, and you’ve nailed it.” Harry chuckles at her words. She smiles in amusement before taking on a more serious expression. “Right now things are difficult, but when your plan succeeds, you will know who you can and who you can’t trust. You won’t be alone. It’ll all be worth it, then.” With that, she just fades away.

Harry looks around in confusion for a moment before he takes a deep breath and looks at the locket in his hands. “Okay, that’s one. The diary is gone, the diadem is gone, I’ve got the locket. Now I’ve just got to get that damned ring from Dumbledore. And figure something out for Nagini,” Harry frowns, “And hope she’s the only one he’s made that Ginny wasn’t aware of.” Harry huffs, “I hate having to hope for something.”

The moment the Order leaves to Malfoy Manor, Ginny slinks away from the other kids left behind and goes to Sirius and Remus’ room. She starts searching around, trying to put things back where she found them as she goes.

_“They aren’t going to have left something they are this afraid of out in the open.”_

Ginny rolls her eyes, “Yes, Tom, I’m aware of that. That’s why I’m looking _under_ things.”

Tom huffs inside her head, _“I’m just saying, I know them well. I could help if you’d listen to me.”_

“I’m not in the mood to let a dude currently living in my mind start telling me what to do.”

 _“What, don’t trust me, Ginny?”_ Tom asks, part teasing part challenging.

Ginny sighs, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. “Do you understand that having you here makes me feel like I’m still possessed?” Ginny can feel the hesitation on Tom’s part. She nods, “I’m sure you of all people can understand why that feeling is unnerving. So I’m going to keep making my own choices here.”

_“The sooner you find it, the sooner I get my own body again.”_

Ginny hesitates for a moment, then she nods slowly, “All right, fine. Where would you suggest?”

_“Try behind the bedside table.”_

Ginny goes over, pulling it out slightly to look behind, “There’s nothing here,” She tells him.

 _“Try feeling under the top, there’s a little lip there.”_ Ginny does so, grabbing hold of what she finds there and pulling it out. She looks at the stone vial containing Salazar Slytherin’s potion everyone has made such a fuss about. She feels Tom’s smirk. _“Jackpot.”_

It’s bizarre, really. It’s always when you’re at your most busy that you finally notice the things you haven’t before. For example, here Remus is, fighting through Death Eaters in Malfoy Manor, a situation that feels _very_ familiar but Remus is trying not to think about that. No, what he’s noticing, is that of all the Death Eaters they’re fighting, Lucius Malfoy is not one of them.

And there’s Greyback. But Lillie is no where to be seen.

There’s Hyperion Greengrass, but Daphne isn’t here either.

How are they supposed to rescue people they can’t fucking find?!

Remus feels a small vibration from his pocket, he frowns, unsure who would be calling him right now. He pulls out his phone as he keeps fighting, answering it when he sees it’s Phia.

“Now’s not really a great ti-”

“It’s me, Remus,” Lucius voice comes through.

Remus blinks in shock, almost getting hit with a wildly thrown curse in the process. “So…is this a good call or a ‘Voldemort is threatening my sister again’ call?”

“I’ve got the kids who would willingly come, I used your attack as a distraction to get them out. They’re at your house in France.”

“What? Y-”

“Tom’s gone, Remus. I mean, Voldemort’s still there, and I suppose technically that mutated body is supposed to be Tom but…there’s nothing of him left in there.”

Remus frowns, hearing Lucius sound quite distressed by this, but then he catches sight of the man in question. The rage on Voldemort’s face, the madness, he’s only seen that once, in a memory. Lucius is right, that’s Ariana, not Tom. Remus sees Mundungus hit the ground. Sirius grabs him, pulling his body behind a wall. He reappears a moment later, shaking his head to those Order members who had noticed.

Mundungus Fletcher is dead.

“We need to get out of here!” Remus calls.

“Remus!” Tonks calls in shock.

“Trust me.”

It takes a moment, then they do, all apparating away. Remus stays long enough to see Lucius come into the room, nodding to Remus before making it look like he was here all along. Remus apparates away.

“What the hell?” Bill demands.

Remus sighs, “They’re at my house in France.”

“What happened?” Peter asks as he, Dumbledore, and Del enter the room, Del carrying baby Rema.

Everyone looks to Remus expectantly.

“If I tell you all what happened, then the mole will know what happened,” Remus reminds them, looking pained. The expression is shared by all, they know he’s right.

“Uncie!” Rema calls, reaching for Remus who smiles at her, walking over and taking her from Del.

“Hi there, Princess.” Rema giggles at him.

“Perhaps you can fill me in while Mr Pettigrew and Miss Tonks go to retrieve the children?” Dumbledore suggests, Remus nods.

Remus and Dumbledore walk into the study, Remus bouncing Rema slightly as he leans against the desk. “Lucius snuck them out. He said…” Remus trails off for a moment, looking down at Rema, stroking her hair gently. He looks back at Dumbledore, “He said Tom’s gone. All that remains is Voldemort.”

“Do you know his motives for helping us here?” Dumbledore asks as he takes a seat on an armchair.

Remus shakes his head, “Could have something to do with what happened to Harry, could have something to do with Draco being here now. I really don’t know. What I _do_ know, is that this act won’t be forgiven. If Voldemort finds out what he did, he’s done for.”

“Which is why you wouldn’t risk the spy knowing.” Remus nods though the question was mostly rhetorical. “We’d best make sure they don’t find out then.”

“How do we do that when we don’t know who they are?” Remus asks.

Dumbledore sighs, “We need to uncover the identity of the mole.” 

“We’ll compartmentalise information,” Remus suggests, “If we keep track of what Voldemort is finding out, we should get a better idea of who it might be.”

Albus smiles at him, nodding, “It’s good to have you back, Mr Lupin,” he says as he walks out of the room.

“Y-What, no, I didn’t agree to that!” Remus calls after him. He hears Dumbledore chuckle and rolls his eyes, grumbling under his breath as he follows Albus out of the room.

“Harry’s fine,” Remus hears Andrea Polka saying. He follows the voice and sees Andrea hugging Lillie close to her.

“Remus!” Daphne calls happy, running over and hugging him when she sees him.

Remus smiles, “Hi Daphne. Are you all right?” He asks.

Daphne nods, “I am. Thanks for helping to look after Astoria.”

“I can look after myself, Daph!” Astoria complains from a ways away where she’s talking to Draco about something in hush tones. Daphne rolls her eyes but puts her hands up in surrender as she walks over to smooth things over with her sister.

Remus looks over the room, and for the first time in twenty years or so, he sees a room full of happy people and doesn’t have any deep or depressing or reminiscing thoughts. 

He just smiles, and moves nearer to Sirius, Hermione, and Benni.

Lucius stands at the top of the staircase in the Manor, taking a deep breath and straightening his robes. He walks down, facing Voldemort calmly.

“You wanted to see me, My Lord?”

Voldemort nods calmly, holding his wand in his hand, a fact that is not missed by Malfoy.

“I’ve been conducting an investigation into exactly what happened yesterday, how the children escaped, why Dumbledore’s people suddenly retreated when they did.” Voldemort watches Lucius as he continues speaking, “I know what you did, Lucius.”

“My Lord?” The moment Voldemort starts glowering at him, Lucius gives up all pretence and accepts the fact that he’s not walking out of here alive.

“This is outside the terms of our deal, Lucius. That makes you a traitor.” Voldemort looks at him, no hint of regret in his eyes, and sees none in Lucius either. “You _know_ what we do to traitors. But first, I want to know why.”

Lucius lets out a breathy chuckle, “When we first met we fought, and I almost died to stop you. I knew then that it would always end this way, just waiting for whatever reason would finally push me over the edge. And I found it.”

Voldemort nods slowly, then lifts his wand, “ _Avada kedavra!_ ” Lucius’ body thumps to the floor. Voldemort shakes his head, “I should have killed all three of you that day.” Then he walks away.

Draco and Hermione Malfoy both jerk awake, sitting up and gasping as they feel pain and loss flow through them. And they feel love, the love their father felt for them. And then death.

The rest of the people in the Fortress are awoken by screams and panicked yells from multiple directions. They jump into action, running different ways but finding similar scenes. Blaise and Ron trying to comfort a sobbing Draco, and Ginny and Pansy holding a shell-shocked Hermione, tears falling silently down her face.

“What the hell happened?” Remus asks Pansy, the question mirrored by Moody addressing Ron. Neither know.

“Father…Lord Malfoy I mean, he-he’s…” Hermione tries to explain, she looks up in fear, “Draco!” She calls before she gets up and sprints out of the room, going down the hall to the room the others are in. She quickly takes Ron’s place at his side, hugging her brother close.

It’s a minute later that Draco feels a hand on his shoulder, he looks up slightly to see Harry, a mildly out of breath Ginny leaning on the doorframe behind him, apparently having run through this house, to the floo, then through Potter Mansion, and back again. Peter is beside her looking just as out of breath.

“Dray, what happened?” Harry asks quietly.

Draco drops his head onto Harry’s shoulder. “My Father…he’s dead.”

“What?” Pansy asks as multiple gasps are heard around the room.

“We felt it,” Hermione explains, rubbing lightly at her chest like she can still feel the pain. “I get why Draco would, I don’t know how I did.”

“Whether or not the gift was passed on to you, your Father was a powerful empath. There had to be some empathic connection between him and his kids,” Moody tells her as everyone else remains in shocked silence.

Hermione leans into Sirius’ hug as he kneels down beside her, putting an arm around his daughter.

“I’m so sorry, Mio,” He whispers, holding her close. She cries into his chest.

Everyone disperses, trying to give the children space to grieve as those closest to them comfort them.

Eventually they join the others down in the dining-room, no one currently in the mood to go straight back to bed so Molly and George had fixed some snacks for everyone. 

It’s then that Draco realises, “I’m an orphan.”

Blaise’s eyes widen, “Shit…so am I.”

Everyone looks around awkwardly, none sure how to respond to that.

“It had to be Voldemort, right?” Pansy asks, everyone concurs except for one problem.

Harry cringes, “They seemed kind of… _close_ ,” Harry awkwardly says, “This can’t have been out of nowhere.”

Draco pulls his legs up to his chest, “I’m pretty sure they were sleeping together.” Remus chokes on his tea, Sirius patting his back as he tries to breathe.

“Why would he kill him, then?” Hermione asks in a quiet voice, unsure how to grieve a man she barely knew, but one who had come to mean so much to her in such a short amount of time. Del puts an arm around her shoulders and places a kiss on her head.

“It had to be because of us, right?” Lillie asks, looking to Remus. “I know we weren’t meant to tell anyone but, he’s already dead.”

Remus shakes his head, “If you and Daphne _truly_ didn’t say anything, then only Dumbledore and I knew that he got you out.”

“Doesn’t that…kind of mean _you’re_ the spy?” Tonks questions with a frown.

“Why would he ensure to keep this secret if it would incriminate him so easily?” Fleur asks.

“Yeah but, at the same time, only four people knew and he’s the only one out of those four who could conceivably be the spy,” Severus points out earning a glare from his ex-husband. “I’m not saying you _did_ it, I’m just saying.”

Remus rolls his eyes, but notices Harry looking at him critically. “I’m not the spy!” He tells him.

“Hey, I’m not getting involved,” Harry says, eyes wide and hands up in surrender, “I’m only here for them,” He explains, pointing to Hermione and Draco. Then he frowns, “It’s just, I’ve been wondering how he knew that I knew he’s my father.”

“Right, you said Professor Lupin had told you, that’s why you weren’t surprised by that bit when you saw ‘Mione’s family tree,” Ron remembers, Harry nods.

Remus huffs, “I didn’t tell Voldemort,” He insists. 

“If you didn’t tell him about Lord Malfoy, isn’t the only other option that the Headmaster did?” Daphne poses with a confused look, not believing either option to be possible.

“How could either of us have beaten the veritaserum?” Remus asks challengingly.

“You or not, the spy did that anyway, and we still don’t know how,” Bill replies, but then Moody’s head snaps up.

“Unless they didn’t.”

Everyone looks at him in confusion.

“Everyone said under the serum that they aren’t the mole,” Arthur reminds him.

Moody shakes his head, looking at Remus, “Not everyone spoke.”

Remus looks confused, “Moody, I _did_ answer.”

“But you aren’t the only one in there, are you?” Once more the room freezes, all looking to Remus in shock and suspicion as they realise what he means.

“Sirius –” Remus says, voice sounding terrified, “– take my wand.”

Sirius leans forward, taking the wand from Remus’ pocket as Moody pulls his out and points it at Remus as a precaution.

“Moony wouldn’t, he-he was coming round, he wouldn’t betray us!” Tonks insists.

“He was locked away because of the Wolfsbane when we first discovered there was a mole, wasn’t he?” Sturgis points out.

“Only on a full moon. We were very separated at that point though, yes, but he’s taken over while I was asleep before, maybe since my mind wasn’t consciously controlling the body that could’ve given him the leeway needed to do it,” Remus suggests.

“And we insisted on lowering that barrier,” Arthur states, rubbing at his forehead.

Severus suddenly gasps as he remembers, “I had a vision, earlier in the year. I couldn’t…” Severus trails off, looking horrified and panicked as he gets up, pacing. “I thought Sirius was dead, I didn’t think it could be possible.”

“What, what did you see?” Del pushes.

Severus looks back at the group as he stops pacing. “Remus and Sirius facing off in the Ministry Atrium. Sirius was trying to talk him down from doing something, but it didn’t work. Remus cast the killing curse.”

Everyone looks horrified.

“Except it wasn’t Remus, it was Moony,” Sirius adds, looking heart-broken, “Our pup.”

“Do you think you-know-who knows that?” Peter suddenly asks.

“What difference does that make?!” Astoria exclaims, looking shocked by all of this.

“Pete does this, if he’s asking it’s important,” Severus tells her, “I don’t recall us ever telling Tom about any of it.”

“He knows,” Remus reveals, tapping his fingers nervously on the table. A tic he’d picked up since quitting drinking and, although irritating, one the others much prefer. “Back when they had me the first time, Greyback tried to get me to join him but I refused. He thought Moony might be more receptive to the idea and brought him out in front of Gaunt to ask. I don’t remember what happened exactly but they kept torturing me after that so I always sort of figured he’d said no.”

“Moony was very protective of you back then, I don’t think he’d have joined in the middle of that,” Sirius comments.

Severus frowns, leaning against the wall and observing Remus for a moment. “Unless there was something he wanted to protect even more. A child, perhaps.”

Remus’ eyes widen as he realises what his friend means. “Oh.” He sighs, “ _Oh_. Oh my god. Oh he knew, dear god, he _knew_. That’s why he betrayed us. He knew about Ella.”

“And Ella is…?” Astoria asks.

Remus takes a deep breath, “Ella was the unborn child that Albus unknowingly killed. _My_ unborn child.”

“…well that’ll work up a werewolf alright,” Mary responds, unsure what anyone could really say to that.

“I had no idea Trixie was pregnant, but Moony probably would’ve known. Scent or something I’m sure.”

The whole room seems to let out a breath, overwhelmed with just…everything.

Harry looks at his hands, he should be worried about what Moony might have told Voldemort about Inimicus, and he is, but all this conversation has really done is make him want to go back to Delphi. Sirius walks over, putting a hand on both his shoulder and Hermione’s. When he looks up, he sees the same anguish in his Dad’s eyes that he feels, along with understanding. It’s that knowledge that he’s not alone that allows him to focus on the matter at hand once more. Because Voldemort did not know who Inimicus is, that much was obvious. Obviously Moony has no cause to hate him like he does Dumbledore, but if you’re going to turn on…Harry holds back the head nod he almost performs. Because Voldemort hurt Moony just like he did Remus, they mentioned that earlier. He joined him because Dumbledore killed his Cub, not because he believed in him. Harry inadvertently gave Moony another option, and one that allows him to back up his Pack’s Cubs, one of the main reasons Remus joined as well, Harry is sure.

None of that really matters to Harry though. Moony just made Remus’ worst fear come true and gotten people he cared about killed. He made _Remus_ get people he cared about killed. This is a _problem_.

“What do we do?” Bridget asks unsurely. She’s not part of the Order and has no interest in becoming so, but this is her Wolfie and that’s different.

“I don’t suppose you actually looked into a cure when Lucius suggested it, did you?” Remus asks Severus, a pained grimace coming over his face as he thinks of his now deceased friend.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yeah, neither.”

“Werewolves are made of magic, aren’t they?” Benni asks. Everyone looks at her in confusion. “Well, the personality of the wolf isn’t already there, but the infection, it’s related to magic itself, isn’t it? And that’s what makes the wolf part of the mind.” Remus nods at her. Benni frowns, “If we temporarily bind your magic, would it stop Moony from being able to do anything? While we work out what to do, that could stop him from hurting anyone else, right?”

“It doesn’t work like that. We’d have to block the personality in with the magic now and isolating that part of his mind from the rest of it? As far as I’ve been able to tell there’s no way to really do that,” Severus tells her earning confused looks. Severus shifts on his feet awkwardly, “I looked into a few options a while back.” There’s an awkward tension as the main reason behind their divorce is suddenly shoved up in everyone’s faces again.

“Did you ever find anything promising?” Remus asks him, pushing all other feelings aside.

Severus hesitates, eyes flicking to Harry before he can stop them. “A legend, of a man who cured lycanthropy.”

“How?” Sirius asks in shock. None in the room could remember ever hearing a legend like that.

“Supposedly he controlled death and altered it to only kill the wolf.”

“My parents looked into that,” Remus says, the memory coming to him suddenly, “Tracked it down as much as they could and discovered it wasn’t real. ‘Controlling death’ was casting the killing curse and only hitting the wolf. It’s not possible to survive that curse, so the legend can’t be real.”

“Well, I thought that too, then _that_ happened,” Severus says, pointing to Harry. Or, more specifically, to his scar. Harry traces it lightly with his finger.

“Nobody can control the spell like that,” Moody tells them, “Potter was a fluke.”

“Riddle-Potter-Black,” Harry corrects.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, are you really gonna do that? I mean that’s what, 20 seconds of time no one’s ever gonna get back every time someone addresses you?” Ron rants. Harry just smiles smugly, nodding.

“Okay but, you _do_ have weird control over that spell,” Daphne points out, “That’s how you killed Greg’s Dad, right? You used the killing curse but you didn’t even cast it.”

Harry looks at her in confusion as everyone looks at him in shock. “Who the fuck is Greg?”

“Goyle,” Draco replies quietly.

“Huh, was this when Voldemort was resurrected or was this in the non-existent Department of Mysteries?”

“Resurrection,” Blaise answers.

“Oh is that who he was,” Harry states, nodding slowly.

“You cast the Killing Curse on someone?!” Sirius all but screeches.

Harry rolls his eyes, “Not on _purpose_. Father cast it on me and then…I don’t know what happened but I just did it and then I couldn’t believe I’d done it and then I was getting crucio’d and I didn’t think on it again until…well, anyway.”

“He’s got the same connection to that curse as you do the Imperius,” Arthur comments, looking to Remus who nods.

“Apparently.”

“I do?” Harry asks, not knowing about Remus’ thing with the Imperius curse.

“Yeah, I cast it a few times before I learnt how to not. Or, well, I’m not sure I ever did but it just sort of stopped happening? I don’t know. I didn’t even know I’d done it the first time, I just thought Severus decided not to be a dick that day.”

“Wait, I’m sorry what now?” Severus asks, “I thought it was with the Boggart.”

Remus cringes, “Well that was the first time I knew for sure I’d done something. But you said my eyes glowed and it reminded me of the time I saw your eyes glow and then you did what I wanted and at the time I was confused why you did.”

“…awkward…” Sirius says quietly.

“You said you cast it a _few_ times, by accident?” Peter asks, knowing it’s true because well he was there for most of it, but it niggles something else at the back of his mind. “I remember in the graveyard, you were just as shocked. It had never happened before, had it?” 

Harry shakes his head, glaring slightly at the mention of Peter’s role in the events of that day. “Not that I was aware of at the time.”

“But it’s happened more than once?” Moody asks.

Harry curls in on himself slightly.

“That’s what happened with those Death Eaters! Oh, I knew you hadn’t just lost your damned mind,” Hermione says as she remembers the three Death Eaters he killed that day.

“Look I didn’t mean to do any of it, the spell gets cast on me and then shit just happens and I don’t know why and I don’t even think about it until it’s over and the feeling’s gone and then I’ve got no idea what’s just happened but I can’t take any of it back,” Harry rambles, looking like he’s trying to hide how afraid he is.

“Yeah, that’s familiar,” Remus says.

“Do you think you could do it? Kill the wolf, I mean,” Mad-Eye asks.

“For fuck’s sake, Alastor, my son is _not_ doing that!” Del says ferociously, pulling Harry towards her to hold him close.

“I’m-you ca-it’s no-…” Harry cuts off everything he was going to say, just looking frustrated.

“Del, no one is going to make him do anything,” Sirius tells her, putting a hand on her arm. She loosens her hold on Harry slightly but doesn’t let go fully, much to Harry’s disgruntlement.

“Oigh,” Hermione mutters under her breath, a feeling echoed by everyone who has ever tried to talk to Harry about his parents. Any of them. Ever.

“It’s never happened without someone casting the curse on me first,” Harry tells Moody, “And if someone did that first, well, I can’t guarantee that I wouldn’t consider it too much trouble and just kill Remus as well.”

“We wouldn’t be risking having someone cast it on you anyway!” Molly insists.

“We cast the Imperius curse on Remus to test it,” Sturgis reminds them.

“I was against that too!” Molly shoots back, “And that one had no chance of killing him! _And_ this one really _would_ be illegal!”

“We know it doesn’t work, it’s been cast on him _how_ many times now?” Blaise asks, looking at Harry who scrunches his nose and starts putting fingers up as he counts off instances.

“Four? I think. Godric’s Hollow, Graveyard, Ministry, three-ish days ago or whatever that was I don’t know everything from then is a little…fuzzy,” Harry says, wincing slightly, “I don’t want to risk accidentally killing Uncle Moony.”

Remus rubs at his forehead, “We’re going to have to make sure I can’t go anywhere.”

“We can adjust the warding around the Fortress to do that,” Blaise informs them.

Moody nods, “Come help me do that, Kid.” Blaise agrees and the two walk off.

“I guess, now that he can’t get to Voldemort, we should all go to bed,” Molly suggests, knowing they aren’t going to solve this whole lycanthropy thing in one night.

“Hey, not to like, detract from the whole murder of a Father thing –” Ginny starts to say, sending an apologetic look to Draco and Hermione, “– but school starts in a day. We’ve lost our DADA teacher again.”

Severus sighs, nodding. “I need to go speak with Dumbledore. Can you all handle… _this_ ,” He says, awkwardly flapping his hand in Remus’ general direction.

“Yeah, we got it, go,” Tonks replies. He nods and heads through the floo. “Who the hell are they going to find in a _day_ now that Re can’t just step in for a bit?”

“Good Morning, third years,” Sirius greets with a forced smile, “I am Professor Black. Today we’re going to be discussing Animagi.”


	41. I Know You Got The Best Intentions

Chapter 40 – I Know You Got The Best Intentions

Note: Chapter Title from Katelyn Tarver’s song ‘You Don’t Know’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“Good Morning, third years,” Sirius greets with a forced smile, “I am Professor Black. Today we’re going to be discussing Animagi.”_

Now,

“Okay, so, we’ve got a problem,” Harry announces as he enters the Graveyard.

The others look up from the conference table where they had been comparing notes on where things are at to try and work out what in the fuck Harry’s actually doing at this point.

“What is it?” Neville asks, a concerned look on his face.

“Is it about your Dad teaching here because straight up yes, that is a problem,” Ginny adds earning an eye-roll from Harry.

“No, that’s not what I’m talking about. Okay, so, I’ve destroyed three horcruxes. How many did you say there would be?” Harry asks Ginny who cringes.

“He was aiming for seven, a good number for evil deeds apparently. He’d planned out what four of them would be. We don’t know what the others could be.”

“I found another one of them so that’s five,” He says.

“Okay so, the thing is though –” Ginny begins, “– he’d planned to do this over _years_. Only, from the moment your Father was possessed, there were only four years before the war ended. So I went back and had a look. Now, there was Myrtle. Tom’s father was murdered in 1977, you can bet that’s related. But beyond that, there’s no way to know which death to attribute to Voldemort specifically, and then that he made a horcrux from it. I mean it was in a war,” Ginny explains. She sighs, frowning, “But you mentioned about Voldemort hiding in a forest in Albania after Godric’s Hollow. I looked around there, and there was a death in 1980 that the magical community over there ruled as a magic murder but found no killer, so it’s possible he’d been there before. I mean, otherwise it’s a pretty random hiding spot. Still, it’s a bit of a leap.”

“Bertha,” Severus mutters, looking up at them, “A ministry worker was holidaying in Albania a few years back, she went missing and was never found.”

Harry nods, “The horcrux I found had to have been made in the last few years so it’s possible.”

“So in conclusion, we’re fairly certain that he did succeed in creating four, and we’ve destroyed three, but have no guarantee that for one, there aren’t more we don’t know about, and two, that he isn’t still making more,” Draco concludes.

“Yes, however that’s not the problem I was alluding to when I came in,” Harry says, “Severus, you said Dumbledore had one of them.”

Severus nods, then sighs, “Right, and he doesn’t know how to destroy them, nor can we get it off of him.”

“Is it hidden somewhere, could we just steal it?” Ron asks.

“It’s a ring, and it cursed him when he touched it which means we can’t touch it,” Severus replies, shaking his head.

Ginny looks up with a frown, “That should be killing him, how long has he had it?”

“Months –” Severus tells her, “– and it is killing him. But he’s convinced there’s a way to reverse that.”

“Yes but that way would require…” Ginny trails off, frowning, then she nods, a grin slowly spreading across her face. “You told him about Moony, right? About him being the mole?”

“Wait, what?” Neville asks, Luna also looking confused.

“Long story,” Draco tells him, looking downtrodden as he has for the last few days since his Father was murdered. Which, fair enough, all things considered.

“Yes, I told him,” Severus responds while sending a worried look to his God-Son. 

“Right, well, then he has to realise he can’t do that anymore. So, theoretically, he should be distracted while looking for some other way to cure himself. That could work in our favour.”

Harry clasps his hands together on the table, looking to Ginny, “You assume he’s not willing to die for this.”

Ron tilts his head to the side, “He might be more willing to see another solution now, though, if his contingency plan has fallen apart.”

“Oh, actually that reminds me, I told him you don’t remember much from being under the Moral Reversal Spell and that you don’t remember it being cast. Just so he doesn’t go after you trying to cover up his own involvement in it,” Severus explains. Harry nods gratefully. “I can ask him more about the Horcruxes. I didn’t before but if I go there, now more determined than ever to stop Voldemort after he messed with my God-Son’s mind and killed one of my oldest friends, he might tell me more about what he plans to do with the one he has.”

Ginny looks at Harry, feeling a twinge inside her, a flinch more within Tom than within herself. She hadn’t recognised it before, hadn’t known how she felt it, not while he was blocked. But this is how she knew that the diadem was like the diary. Only that’s not the only time she felt it. She felt it with Harry too. Only now she knows what it means, knows what it is. She stares at him, eyes drawn to his scar as she realises, more happened that night in Godric’s Hollow than anyone realises.

“I might have found another Horcrux,” She says in a dazed voice. Everyone looks to her in shock, she swallows harshly. “I’m looking into it. I’ll let you know when I’ve confirmed.”

“All right, good,” Harry says with a nod, then he sighs, “And in the meantime, we all have to try and survive Sirius’ classes…”

A shudder runs through the group. Severus rolls his eyes at them.

“Why couldn’t you just teach DADA again and get Bridget to teach Potions. She ran a potions store, surely she knows what she’s doing,” Pansy questions.

“The last time I let someone else teach potions the castle got blown up,” Severus replies snippily.

“Well yeah but we sabotaged him, he can’t really be held accountable for that,” Pansy points out. Everyone but the original four look at them in surprise. Pansy’s eyes widen slightly, “You lot didn’t know that?”

“Maybe? I don’t think so. A lot’s been going on,” Hermione replies with a sigh. Ginny wraps an arm around her.

“Right, there’s nothing more we can do tonight. Everyone get some sleep,” Harry orders. The meeting breaks up, but not everyone goes to bed.

Ginny sneaks up to the Attic, quickly locating the hair samples the original group kept of themselves and a few friends, originally intended to be used in Polyjuice potions to aid in pranks. Ginny has a different purpose.

“Are you sure this will work, Tom? I mean, I thought it required blood.”

 _“The hair holds my DNA, but it won’t be potent enough to create a replica containing my memories and personality. That’s exactly what we need,”_ Tom explains.

Ginny nods, pulling off the necklace and opening the vial. “Two drops of potion, right?” Tom answers in the affirmative, so Ginny drops two drops onto the ground before closing the vial again. She puts the hair into the small puddle and steps back as a body begins to grow. Within moments, a fifteen-year-old Tom Riddle stands before her, from his eyes alone she can see he is hollow on the inside. Ginny nods, pulling her wand out and casting the ageing spell she had learnt in Transfiguration a year previous. She makes the Tom before her 34-years-old, as he should be. “All right, ready?”

_“You know, I might even miss this.”_

Ginny rolls her eyes, “You will fucking not.”

Tom chuckles in her mind, _“No, I won’t. But I will miss you.”_

Ginny smiles, “I might just miss you too.”

Tom focuses on the body, pulling himself towards it as Ginny ejects him from within her mind. Tom crosses to the body before them and, for the first time in so very long, he opens his eyes. He blinks, looking around before lifting a hand.

“I…I did that, I made that choice,” He says, waving his arm around a bit.

“Yes, yes you did,” Ginny replies. 

He laughs slightly, before hugging her. “Thank you. I…Merlin, I can never repay you.”

“Be a good Father to my friend,” Ginny tells him, “And, I don’t know, some ice cream would be nice.”

Tom laughs, nodding. “So, how are we going to get to Dumbledore without being seen?”

Ginny pulls out Harry’s cloak, “Invisibility cloak.”

“Where in the hell did you get that?”

“Nicked it from Harry.” At his continued confusion she shrugs. “Potters, I mean, what are you going to do?”

He nods his agreement with that statement, covering himself with the cloak and following Ginny as she walks to McGonagall’s quarters. She knocks on the door loudly to wake her Professor who blearily answers the door.

“Miss Weasley? What on Earth do you –”

“I need to speak with the Headmaster. It’s urgent,” Ginny tells her, “It’s about Tom Riddle.”

Minerva observes the girl for a moment before nodding and taking her to Dumbledore’s office.

She leaves Ginny, and unknowingly Tom, in Albus’ office before going to wake him up. The two walk out moments later.

“I hear you need to speak with me about something rather important,” Dumbledore begins as he takes a seat at his desk and gestures for her to do the same.

“Yes, but, you have to promise me something,” Ginny tells him, “You have to promise me that you won’t freak out. You have to let me explain before doing anything else.”

Albus raises an eyebrow at the girl, exchanging looks with Minerva before nodding. “Very well.”

Ginny nods to herself, and then to the supposedly empty space behind her. Tom takes off the cloak, handing it to her.

“You promised not to freak out!” Ginny reminds them quickly as Dumbledore draws his wand and McGonagall opens her mouth to, well, yell, scream, she’s not entirely sure. They both freeze.

“I’m not Voldemort,” Tom explains, “I swear.”

“When the diary possessed me years ago I tried to fight back. Ar-…Voldemort couldn’t supress me, not enough, so he shoved me into the diary alongside Tom,” Ginny begins explaining, shocked looks already plastered over both teachers’ faces. “When Harry saved me, I pulled Tom into my mind when the piece of Voldemort in the diary was destroyed. He’s no longer in anyway corrupted or possessed by it. I used the potion Salazar Slytherin made to grow a new body for Tom and pushed his mind into it.”

“When Ginny said she didn’t remember anything, she wasn’t lying. Her mind, it felt the intrusion and repressed me within her mind, and her memories of the incident along with me, for the most part. It was only recently that that was all unlocked, only unlike five years ago, there was a way to give me my own body back again.”

“Harry said the version of you within the diary was a teenager,” Dumbledore states, unsure what else to address here.

Tom nods, “Ginny aged my body forward to what it should be now. But I don’t remember anything past 1977.”

“Then why age him?” McGonagall asks Ginny, still feeling rather understandably discombobulated.

“We’ve all known for a long time that Tom was possessed, that he’s innocent. Most people don’t know that he and Voldemort were, supposedly, the same person. I figured if I aged him forward, he could continue his life alongside those he cares about. He can’t do that as a teenager.” Dumbledore frowns, concerned. Ginny leans forward, looking incredibly serious considering she is all of fifteen. “Headmaster, Remus and the others, they’ve been trying to find a way to free Tom for almost twenty years. I found that way. Please, give them their friend back. If you explain to them that he’s no longer possessed, they will welcome him back, I _know_ it.” 

Dumbledore looks to Minerva before he moves around to stand in front of Tom who swallows nervously. “Let me see,” He requests. Tom hesitates, obviously having an issue with letting something into his mind again. But it’s the only way to convince them and he knows it. He nods, allowing the Headmaster to look into his mind. A moment later, Dumbledore withdraws and nods. He places a hand on Tom’s shoulder. “You have been sorely missed, Tom.”

Tom smiles, tears in his eyes as he once more realises that, finally, he truly is free.

“Mr Potter isn’t going to react well to this,” Minerva comments with a frown.

Ginny shakes her head, “I actually think he’ll be fine. I mean, I know he’s had trouble allowing his family to be close with him again, but Tom’s the only one involved that hasn’t lied to him or in some other way pushed him away. Despite everything, he might have the easiest time connecting with Harry.”

“I still can’t believe Del didn’t tell me she was pregnant,” Tom mutters.

“You had _just_ killed Myrtle, I think she had fair reason to be afraid,” Ginny deadpans.

“That _wasn’t me_ ,” Tom emphasises strongly, “And even Voldemort didn’t actually intend for that to happen.”

“Really?” Minerva asks as Dumbledore walks over to the floo.

“Yes, it’s… a long story.”

The floo activates and Severus walks through, then Sirius. Severus, of course, being a zombie, looks fine. Sirius looks like he just got dragged through the pits of hell.

“Why wake now?” Sirius asks, rubbing at his eyes. Then he spots Tom and is quite suddenly wide awake and pointing his wand at the man. Ginny steps between them.

“Now, calm down, everything’s fine,” McGonagall tells them, trusting that if Dumbledore is convinced after looking in his mind, then it truly is Tom.

“How in the fucking what?” Severus exclaims. Ginny snickers sightly.

“Miss Weasley found an…ingenuitive way to save him,” Dumbledore explains. The two look at the girl in shock.

Ginny shrugs, “You were all busy with other things.”

“It is…quite a long story. But this Tom only has memories up until 1977,” Dumbledore informs them.

“Never thought I’d see the day when Sirius Black wore a three piece suit,” Tom comments, looking him over. “What happened to your punk rock vibe?”

Ginny’s head snaps up, “Your what now? His what now?”

“I think you can return to your dormitory now, Miss Weasley.”

“Y-no! Punk Rock? Sirius went through a punk rock phase?!” Ginny all but screams as Severus herds her out the door.

“…Yeah that’s not the end of that,” Sirius says with a grimace before he turns back to Tom. He’d intended to glare at him, but suddenly finds his eyes filled with tears as he moves to hug the man who was once one of his closest friends.

“How much do you know about everything that’s happened since then?” Severus asks with worry.

“Very little,” Tom replies, “Only that Harry exists and that I’ve nearly killed him several times.”

“Eh, a lot of people have, he’ll get over it,” Sirius states, face still buried in Tom’s shoulder, Tom hugging him back.

“The fuck, Sirius?” Tom demands.

“He’s right,” Severus tells him, “And as for everything else. Well, let’s see, 1977. Okay, so, turns out Mary’s alive.”

“Seriousl-shut up Sirius!” Sirius snickers as he steps away from his friend.

“Yes, but, pretty much everyone else is dead.” Tom’s mouth drops open.

“Well, Narielle and Del are alive and fine. Remus as well. Apart from that, no one else I remember you knowing particularly well is still alive, aside from us that is,” Sirius expands, glaring at Severus slightly.

“Oh, and Peter!” Severus suddenly says, “But yes, even Slughorn’s dead.”

“Holy shit what in the hell happened?!”

“War be like that?” Sirius offers, getting a glare from almost everyone in the room. Dumbledore just drops his face into his hands with a sigh.

“Regulus?” Tom asks quietly, pain etched onto his face. Sirius looks back at him hesitantly, then shakes his head. Tom drops into the seat Ginny had been sitting in, unable to believe what he’s hearing.

“If a piece of his soul was in that diary, Albus does that mean the diary was…” Minerva trails off, a hand at her chest in disbelief.

“A horcrux.” Dumbledore shook his head. “I knew when Harry brought it to me five years ago that it was a different kind of magic. Powerful. But until this moment I did not realise how powerful.”

“He had planned to make more,” Tom reveals, “Obviously I’ve no idea if he did or not. But Ginny, with me inside her mind, she should have sensed something if she were near one. I mean, it’s a long shot, but she might know something.”

“I’m sorry, in her _mind_?” Sirius asks, Tom waves him off.

“If we found them, could you destroy it? Do you know how?” Dumbledore asks him, clasping his hands together carefully.

Tom shakes his head, “No, but, Harry destroyed the diary, didn’t he? He can do it, apparently.”

The others exchange looks, unsure what to make of the child somehow knowing how to destroy a horcrux. Of course, Severus already knew that, having seen multiple horcruxes that Harry has destroyed, though the kid still hasn’t told him _how_ he’s doing it.

“The ring,” Severus says, looking to Dumbledore who nods.

“My thoughts exactly.”

“My mother’s ring, he did do that, then?” Albus and Severus nod.

“Look, not to mimic Remus’ tactical mode or anything but, Tom could have information that could help us. We should take him back to the Order,” Sirius suggests.

“We can’t until Peter’s awake. He’s got a baby, I’m inclined to let him sleep while he can,” Severus reminds him, Sirius nods.

“Pettigrew has a kid?” Tom asks in surprise.

“Everybody’s got kids. Well, not Nari. Or Mary, okay so not everybody has kids.”

Tom rolls his eyes at Sirius before realising what he said, “Oh Merlin. _You_ have _kids_?!”

Sirius stares at him awkwardly for a moment, glaring at Severus and then Minerva when he sees the amused looks on their faces.

“Why don’t you all go back to bed. I’ll fill him in on everything and then he can take the bed in my quarters for the night. We’ll sort everything out in the morning,” Severus suggests. Everyone agrees. Severus takes Tom back to his room, slowly filling him in on everything he’s missed.

The five meet in Dumbledore’s office again in the morning, unaware that their absence at breakfast has caused a lot of worry amongst the staff and a lot of bets among the students, mostly revolving around what stupid thing Professor Black did that they’re trying to fix. Sirius looks awkwardly at Tom who rolls his eyes and huffs.

“Sirius, I’m not mad at you.”

“You aren’t?” He asks unsurely.

“Of course not you idiot!” Tom sighs, “When Del and I first started dating you told me to make her happy. I couldn’t do that. I’m glad you did.”

Sirius smiles at him, tears in his eyes again. “Nobody mention all this tearing up business to the Order, there’s a whole thing going on.”

“Something to do with why everyone keeps making tender heart comments?” Severus asks, Sirius nods, “Telling them as soon as I see them again.”

“Fuck you too, Sev.”

“I just still can’t believe Lucius cheated on Narcissa again.” Tom tilts his head to the side. “Except for the part that I can.”

“Yeah, Narcissa was not impressed when she found out. Although, she slept with Remus to even the score a bit and then teased them both endlessly so it all worked out in the end,” Severus reveals, smiling sadly. After everything they’d been through together, the years after the first war when he, Remus, Lucius, and Narcissa relied on each other so very much…it’s so hard to just accept that they’re both gone.

“Hang on, what?!” Sirius cries in outrage, “I’m going to kill him! Are you kidding me?!” Sirius starts stalking towards the floo, ignoring Minerva trying not to laugh.

Severus grabs his arm. “Someone’s still got to tell Harry. I’ll grab Peter, you go get your Son. It’ll be best coming from you.”

Sirius huffs, “Yes, okay good point. But I’m yelling at Remy later!” With that, Sirius walks to the Great Hall. He walks in, spotting Harry at the Main Table and walking over.

“Good morning, _Professor_ ,” Harry greets, grinning cheekily.

Sirius huffs, but a fond smile is clear on his face. Then the smile fades, “Come on, we need to talk.”

“Is everything okay, Dad?” Hermione asks him, Harry’s grin fading too.

Sirius nods, “Yes, there’s just something Harry needs to know.”

Harry frowns but nods, getting up and following him out of the Hall. Sirius starts leading him back towards Dumbledore’s office.

“It’s about your Father.”

Harry’s eyes widen, then his face closes down, “I told you, I don’t want anything to do wi-”

“Not him.” Harry looks to Sirius in confusion. “Do you remember me telling you that if we saved Tom from Voldemort, he wouldn’t be okay afterwards?” Harry nods. “Well, a version of him has _been_ saved, but it’s one from 1977. So, his memories, they end when he’s fifteen. The bad that happened, he doesn’t remember it. He _can_ move on.”

“Wait, hold on. My Father, he’s…he’s free? He’s okay?” Harry asks him, Sirius nods. He’d certainly never say it out loud, but it stings a bit how Harry seems so much more excited about that than he’s ever been about Sirius being around. Of course, Sirius knows that’s his own fault, but he’d finally been making progress on his relationship with Harry, and now he’s worried he won’t view him as a parent anymore. If he even did to begin with.

“He’s up there,” Sirius tells him, pointing up the stairs to Dumbledore’s office as he stops them at the base of the stairwell. “Now, we need your help with something. I can go up there and have them take him back to the Fortress if you don’t want to see him so that we can still talk to you. But, if you want, I know that he’d really like to meet you.”

Harry frowns, debating this for a moment before he nods. “I want to meet him.” He’s nervous, but it’s not even really about Tom. It’s about going back into that office considering what happened the last time. He feels almost like a child as he takes Sirius’ hand, but he knows that if Dumbledore raises a wand to him, Sirius will have Harry’s back instantly.

Sirius holds his hand, giving a reassuring smile as he leads him up the stairs and into the office.

“Hawwy!” 

Harry looks over in surprise to see Rema Pettigrew toddling towards him. His face breaks out in a grin as he scoops her up into his arms. “Hi there, Baby Bird.” Rema hugs him which makes Harry smile even wider.

“You brought Rema?” Sirius asks Peter, giving a token effort to mask the animosity in his voice.

“McGonagall requested it, something about it showing that you all trust the situation enough to have my kid in it?”

“She thinks Rema’s cute,” Severus throws in earning a smack on the chest from said witch.

“She is pretty cute,” Tom adds.

Harry looks over, seeing his Father. He’s seen him before, of course, in the Chamber of Secrets. But there’s kindness in his eyes that wasn’t present then, nor in the times Harry’s seen Voldemort since.

“H-Hi,” Harry greets awkwardly.

“Hi,” Tom replies, just as awkwardly. Both wince at the awkwardness in an identical fashion which has Severus huff out a laugh. Rema suddenly blows a raspberry in Harry’s face. Having spent more time with Delphini lately, he doesn’t even flinch, just uses his sleeve to wipe it off with an unimpressed but resigned look on his face.

“Well, we’re not needed anymore so, I think we’ll head back,” Peter tells the others, taking Rema from Harry and stepping back through the floo.

“So, Del will be glad to see you,” Harry states after shuffling uncertainly on his feet for a few moments.

Tom’s face lights up at the mention of her, “I hope so.”

Everything is silent for a few moments before Severus clears his throat, “Yes, well, I have a class to teach and it promises to be significantly less painful than this conversation. Also, Harry, Lillie and her parents have returned to India, they asked me to let you know they’ll be keeping in touch.”

Harry nods to him. Severus leaves the room, followed by McGonagall who also has a class to teach.

“Don’t you have Little Benni’s class this morning?” Harry asks Sirius who shakes his head.

“I cancelled the class.”

“Why?”

“Because my kid needed me.” Harry looks at Sirius for a moment before he hugs him. Sirius smiles, hugging Harry back.

“Little Benni, that’s Remy and Sev’s daughter, right? The younger one, that is,” Tom checks, Sirius nods to him. “Still can’t believe those two were married.”

“Oh, finally, _someone_ gets it!”

Harry shakes his head and rolls his eyes, turning to Dumbledore, “Sirius said you all needed my help with something?”

“Yes, we believe we discovered last night what exactly the Diary of Tom Riddle was, and how it had the power that it had,” Dumbledore begins. Harry can’t help but notice how that gave away practically nothing. “Another such object has turned up and we’re hoping you can destroy it like you did the diary.”

Harry shrugs, “Sure.”

Dumbledore hands him the ring, wrapped in a rag. “Don’t touch the object inside. It’s cursed.”

“Oh I know that feeling,” Harry mutters as he takes the horcrux from the Headmaster. “Right, I’m gonna get this over with, I’ll be right back.”

“Hey, wait!” Sirius calls, “This won’t hurt you will it?”

“No, it won’t,” Harry assures his Dad.

“So you won’t be in any danger?”

“None at all.”

“You’re _sure_?”

“Yes!” Harry insists, looking irritated.

“Alright, alright,” Sirius says, backing off. Harry huffs as he turns and leaves the room. “You know if you didn’t keep putting yourself in harm’s way I –”

“Wouldn’t have to keep bringing it up. Yeah, yeah,” Harry calls back as he descends the stairs.

Sirius smiles fondly before something suddenly occurs to him, “Oh my. I sound like Hope.”

“Hope is parental goals,” Tom tells him, Sirius nods his agreement.

Harry returns a few minutes later, putting the broken ring on the table.

“Reparo,” Dumbledore casts before he hands it to Tom, “I believe this is yours.”

Tom looks at it for a moment before he shakes his head, “I think I’ve had about enough of that family.”

“You’ve got your own now anyway,” Harry reminds him, “But for the record, your Uncle’s actions are no more his fault than Voldemort’s are yours.”

“Which, of course, begs the question. Whose fault are they,” Dumbledore adds, still puzzled as to what non-human spiritous apparition could be behind all this and why.

Harry frowns at him, though not in confusion as Dumbledore believes. “That it does.”

“Would it change anything if you knew?” Tom asks him.

_“Would it have changed anything?” Albus stops speaking, “No really, had you known, would it have changed anything?”_

_“They needed to be stopped Remus.” Remus nods._

_“Yes, that’s what I thought.”_

Dumbledore frowns as his confrontation with Remus floods through his mind, he shakes his head. “Not even when it should.” Albus frowns, “I’m going to go with Tom to the Fortress. I trust you’ll look after young Harry?” He asks Sirius who smiles and nods.

Tom and Harry stand, Harry hugging him instantly. “I’m glad you’re back, Father.”

Tom hugs him tightly, “I am so glad to be with you.”

“Come on,” Sirius says to Harry, “Let’s grab some Treacle Tart from the kitchens before class.”

“Class has already started,” Harry points out.

Sirius throws an arm over his shoulder as he guides him out the door, “That’s totally beside the point.”

Harry laughs as they go.

“Holy fucking shit, it’s true!” Remus exclaims as Dumbledore and Tom enter the Fortress’ main living room.

“Wolfie! Child!” Bridget chastises.

“And she’s so _cute_!” Remus responds, booping Rema on the nose.

“Not the point.”

“That’s always the point.”

“Good to know you haven’t changed at all in almost twenty years, Remy,” Tom says earning an amused smile.

“Well, it appears I was worried about that for no reason,” Dumbledore mutters.

Mad-Eye nods, “You and me both.”

“Very much same,” Remus adds. They look at him in shock, he shrugs, “I don’t always know what’s going to trigger me anymore than you do. It was a possibility.” Tom winces at that. “Not that I blame you, or anything!” Remus hurries to add.

Peter pats him on the arm, “Know when to stop talking, Re.” Remus huffs.

Del hears the noise and walks into the room, assuming that means they’re here. Her breath catches as she sees Tom. She’d believed Pete, of course she had, but seeing it is always different, especially now.

It’s a moment before Tom looks over and sees her, his eyes light up, a smile gracing his features, and it’s just like it used to be. Before the darkness and the corruption. He’d always looked at her this way.

“Del,” He breathes.

Del stares at him for a moment, unsure what to say or do and suddenly thinking that perhaps Harry got his ability to handle emotion from her. Then she stops thinking and crosses the room, throwing her arms around him. “Tom.”

Harry’s working in the Graveyard that night, crossing another horcrux off the list.

“Now what to do about the snake.”

“Harry.”

Harry turns, seeing Bellatrix behind him and raises an eyebrow. “This is becoming a habit.” Harry looks at her curiously, “Remus, he said you stopped him from giving in to Rodolphus back when they had us captured. Was that really a hallucination? Or have you been here to help him as well?”

Bellatrix smirks as she crosses her arms and leans against a wall.

Then she frowns, “A part of you needs to die, Harry. Just as it does Remy.”

Harry frowns, then he sighs, “I don’t know why the bloody hell that hat thought I belong in Slytherin. Considering I hear that and barely hesitate.”

Bellatrix nods, “Remus has been trying to tell all the kids something for years, something very few people seem to understand. It’s also never really been that important that people understand.”

“Tell me,” Harry requests.

“You aren’t sorted by which traits you have, but by which traits you value most. The hat thought you would do well in Slytherin because of your sense of self-preservation, you’ve always had to keep yourself alive because no one else would. You ended up in Gryffindor not because you asked, but because your sense of justice and the courage to do what you believe to be right will forever out-weigh your need to survive.” Harry looks at Bellatrix in shock. “You have always been the best of them, Harry. Don’t give up now.”

“You’re wrong, Bella,” Harry tells her, “I’m not the best, I have the best, and that’s exactly how I know we’ll win.”

“Harry!”

Harry spins, seeing Ginny behind him. He turns back, but Bellatrix is gone. He shakes his head, pinching his nose for a moment before looking to Ginny once more. “Yeah?”

“We need to talk.” Harry raises an eyebrow at her. She sits on the desk beside his chair. “It’s about the horcrux I found.”

“You’ve confirmed it?”

“It was never in doubt, I just didn’t think it should be brought up in front of the others and I had something else I needed to do last night.” 

Harry nods, a frown on his face. “So what is it? Where is it?”

Ginny hesitates, looking more uncertain than he’s ever seen her. Then she reaches out, touching his scar. “It’s here.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry asks, jerking back out of reach.

“I don’t know how it happened, I didn’t know living things could be horcruxes. But I would bet it happened that night in Godric’s Hollow. It’s the only time that makes sense.”

Harry frowns, “The curse, it…no, it can’t have done that. He didn’t kill anyone that night, I did.”

Ginny shakes her head, “I don’t know what you mean by that, though I can guess. But Harry, I’ve been talking to Neville about his research. The power that fills you when you’re cursed with the Killing Curse, it belongs to whoever cursed you. So if my assumption is correct and Voldemort’s spell hit you and you accidentally then cast it, it was still his magic who did the killing. His soul was in pieces by that point, so he couldn’t die. I think part of his soul latched itself to the only living thing around.”

“Me,” Harry realises, getting up and looking horrified.

“A piece of Voldemort’s soul lives within you.”

“H-How do we get rid of it? Do I have to die?” Harry asks, looking depressed yet determined, horrified yet willing.

“I don’t think so, but my idea does risk that.” Harry looks confused. Ginny clears her throat. “What the Order was talking about, with controlling the killing curse to only kill part of Professor Lupin’s mind. You could do the same thing to the horcrux in you. _Maybe_.” She shrugs, “It’s all we’ve got without taking a Basilisk fang to your forehead and killing you as well.”

Harry frowns, truly frowns. He closes his eyes, nodding resignedly. When he opens them again, it’s with a steely resolve. “Then we do it now. And if it fails, if I die, you should know. The other horcrux, it’s Nagini, Father’s snake.”

Ginny nods her understanding. “Maybe we should wait until –”

“Until what?” Harry asks, “If this doesn’t work, nothing and no one can save me anyway.” Ginny bites her lip but nods. “I’m going to need you to cast the spell on me to begin with. I don’t know how to start it without that catalyst.”

Ginny nods, “I know.”

“Don’t worry. And no matter what happens, it won’t be your fault,” Harry assures her, not wanting her to live with the kind of guilt he feels over Cedric’s death.

“ _Avada Kedavra_!”


	42. No Matter What The Verdict Said

Chapter 41 – No Matter What the Verdict Said

Note: Chapter Title from Little Mix’s song ‘Case Closed’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“I’m going to need you to cast the spell on me to begin with. I don’t know how to start it without that catalyst.”_

_Ginny nods, “I know.”_

_“Don’t worry. And no matter what happens, it won’t be your fault,” Harry assures her, not wanting her to live with the kind of guilt he feels over Cedric’s death._

_“_ Avada Kedavra _!”_

Now,

Pansy’s fast asleep, pleasantly dreaming. She wakes as she feels a burning feeling against her leg. She blearily pulls the enchanted parchment from her pyjama pants pocket, idly wondering if Inimicus ever bloody sleeps or if he’s failed to inform them that he, too, is a zombie.

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

_So, Harry might be dead._

_\---------------------------------------------------------------------_

Pansy stares at it in shock, hesitating a moment longer before she sprints from her bed and into the common room where she finds Blaise and Draco frantically running towards the common room door. She follows after them. Being closer than the Gryffindors, they make it into the Chamber first.

“Hello?!” Blaise calls out. Truthfully, from that message, they had no real reason to believe whatever has happened is here. They still don’t even know who sent the message.

“In here!” Ginny calls, which is confusing, because since when does Ginny even _have_ enchanted parchment.

They walk in to find Harry on the ground, eyes open but empty.

The three Slytherins stare at him in shock.

“What the fuck?” Draco asks, feeling himself break inside as he drops beside Harry. Suddenly Harry breathes in. Pansy screams. Which, of course, is the first thing the Gryffindors hear as they enter the Graveyard. They run in the direction of the scream to find Draco holding a still gasping Harry against his chest.

“What in the hell happened?!” Hermione demands of the shell-shocked Reapers, feeling their shock flood through her. She puts a hand on her chest, unsure what is happening, but this had happened with strong emotions over the last week since Lucius died.

“H-He was fucking dead!” Blaise exclaims.

“It…was a calculated…risk,” Harry tries to say, gripping Draco’s arm tightly.

“Well next time get a new fucking calculator! I just lost my Father, I cannot lose you too!” Draco shouts in his face. Harry puts a hand on his cheek, wiping away a tear that falls. Draco holds him closer. “Stupid fucking idiot.”

“Love you, too, Dray,” Harry comments weakly. Draco smiles down at him gently. He leans down and kisses Harry, not giving himself a moment to second-guess the action. Harry curls a hand around his head to kiss him back.

It only lasts a moment before Draco pulls back, “Stop dying on me.”

Harry smiles, “I’ll do my best.”

“Do or do not, there is no try.”

“You’ve seen Star Wars?” Harry asks in shock.

“Yeah, Uncle Re and Uncle Sev took us to a re-screening of it. Our parents had a fit,” Draco replies as he helps Harry to sit up.

“Heh, I remember that, that was hilarious,” Pansy says, smiling fondly.

“Think it’ll work on a Werewolf?” Ginny asks him, still looking terrified over having basically just temporarily killed him.

“I don’t know, but at the very least we can deal with the snake now. I really didn’t want to have to kill her.”

“Yeah, question is how to get close to her now. We have literally _no_ allies left among the Death Eaters.”

Harry frowns, then raises an eyebrow contemplatively, “Well that’s not entirely true.”

The next morning, Harry is entering the Great Hall, thinking about nothing more than toast, when Pansy suddenly grabs Draco by the arm and pulls him up, dragging him over to Harry and throwing an arm around them both. 

“Good news, folks. They finally snogged!” She calls to the entire school.

“PANSY!” Draco shrieks in outrage. Pansy runs out of the room, Draco chasing after her. Harry awkwardly takes a seat at the table, nibbling on his toast as they hear the occasional shriek of laughter or shout of contempt echoing down the halls.

Harry hurries to grab Dumbledore as breakfast breaks up. “Headmaster!” He calls.

“Ah, Harry, how can I help you?” He asks, smiling in that Grandfatherly way that makes Harry’s skin itch.

He swallows that and smiles unsurely. “I think I know of another horcrux.”

Dumbledore’s eyes widen. He gestures for Harry to follow him as the two go to his office. “Please, continue,” He says as they enter.

“Voldemort, he has this snake, Nagini. I met her while I was there. I don’t…I don’t remember it particularly well, but I do remember feeling something weird about her. After yesterday, well I realised that that ring gave me the same feeling.”

Albus frowns, nodding. “I’ll pass this onto the Order, we’ll find a way to get in despite the current state of things.

“Well that’s another thing, Headmaster. I, well, I know I said I didn’t want to be involved, but I had an idea on that. Only, I don’t think anyone’s going to like it.”

“Are you insane?!” Tonks demands.

Harry shrugs, “Arguably, but that’s really not the point.” George nods in a considering and agreeing fashion.

“You want to get Moony, a known spy, to help you destroy the horcrux of the man he’s been helping?” Mary clarifies.

Harry nods, “Yep.”

“Insane!” Tonks decrees once more.

“Look, he only turned against you all because Dumbledore killed his kid, I mean really, who wouldn’t? Er, no offense, Headmaster.” Harry looks at him awkwardly, Albus merely smiles indulgently at him. “Right, well, anyway. If he knows that Voldemort has, on multiple occasions, hurt his Pack’s Cubs, and killed members of his Pack, he might be willing to help. I don’t see what we lose by asking.”

“It’s not the asking that’s the problem, Potter,” Moody tells him gruffly.

“Riddle-Potter-Black,” Harry corrects.

“It’s the trusting his answer that we’ve got a problem with,” Mad-Eye continues, ignoring Harry’s truly unnecessary comment.

“So give him veritaserum when you ask if he’ll do it.”

“He got around it before,” Arthur points out.

“Because he wasn’t the one talking,” Molly reminds her husband, he nods as he remembers.

“Even if we can get the snake, how do we destroy it? We’re not bringing you anywhere near it,” Del says, “I’m telling you that right now!”

Harry huffs, “Sirius let me destroy one, and he left me alone with it!”

“He _what_?! Peter, give me your phone!” Peter worriedly hands it over to Del who punches call on a contact so hard Peter’s concerned for the phone.

Severus Snape sits at the teacher’s table at lunch, speaking with the other teachers as they try to work out where the hell Dumbledore and Harry are now.

Then his phone rings.

“Hello?” He asks as he answers it.

“Put that mutt on the phone _right_ now!” Del demands down the line. She’ll feel guilty about that later. She’s far too angry right now to care.

“Erm, Sirius?” Sirius looks at Sev in question. “It’s for you.” 

Sirius takes the phone in confusion, “Hi?”

“WHAT IN THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!”

Sirius almost drops the phone in shock, “Erm, Del, hi, what’ve I done?”

“YOU LEFT OUR SON TO DESTROY A HORCRUX ON HIS OWN THROUGH UNKNOWN MEANS?!”

“He promised it was safe!”

“He also said having the killing curse cast on him was safe!”

Sirius rolls his eyes, “No, he said it wouldn’t kill him. And it doesn’t!”

“Unbelievable, I _cannot_ believe you.”

“Del, Harry’s fine.”

“Yes, no thanks to you!”

“Del –” Sirius begins, “– he’s going to do this stuff anyway. I’d rather know about it than have him doing stupid shit behind our backs.”

“If you’re not there when he’s doing said stupid shit then what’s the difference?!”

 _“I’m right here, you know,”_ Sirius hears Harry’s voice say in the background.

“Del, he said it was safe. Do you not trust Harry’s judgement?”

“He dove in front of that curse right in front of us! No, I find his judgement on what’s safe or not for him rather questionable!”

_“Again, right here.”_

“He’s always going to do that. That won’t change, Del. No matter how much you tell him no, or try and convince him otherwise, if he sees a curse heading towards someone, he is _always_ going to jump in the way,” Sirius reasons, “That’s just who he is. And believe me, I hate that just as much as I am proud of it.” Sirius sighs, “I don’t want to lose him either, Del. But the fact of the matter is he _has_ been in dangerous situations, and he’s survived all of them. I think he’s earnt a little trust on that. Stop getting in his way and _help_ him. I mean really, have you even heard him out on whatever the latest stupid scheme is?”

Del sighs, “Okay, fine, you’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

“Don’t push it, Black.” With that, Del hangs up the phone and hands it back to Peter.

Harry stands, staring at her with his arms crossed and an unimpressed look on his face.

She frowns back, “Alright, you can do it, but not on your own, I want people with you.”

Harry sighs, “ _Fine_.”

“Harry, don’t take that tone with your Mother, she’s only trying to make sure you’re safe!” Molly tells him sharply.

Harry goes sheepish, “Sorry.”

“I’ll have Severus make some Veritaserum. In the meantime, Harry, I do believe there’s a class you should be in,” Dumbledore declares.

After the two leave, Del moves to sit beside Molly. “Thanks,” She tells her.

Molly smiles supportively, “I’ve had a lot of teenagers, Dear.”

“I just don’t know what to do with him. Sirius said that Harry’s always going to be like this, he’ll always be putting himself in harm’s way. I know he’s trying to protect people but how am I supposed to just let him do that? I don’t know what to do.”

“In my experience?” Molly offers, “Fret.” Del chuckles. “Sirius is right, Del. Harry is a good man, and good men do everything they can to help people. All you can do is let him do it, and make sure you are there if and when he needs help, and give it.”

Del nods, frowning slightly.

Tom sighs as he sits beside her and takes her hand. “The thing is Del, whether it was true or not, Harry’s grown up an orphan. You can’t remake his life. He’ll always be an orphan. That’ll never leave him.”

“Then what do we do?” Del asks, tears in her eyes.

Tom smiles sadly, “The only thing we can. Give him a better future, and never stop loving him.”

Del smiles back through her tears, “You’d have been a damned good father to him.”

He leans his forehead against hers, “You’d have been amazing, too.”

“So, even if we do destroy the horcruxes, what do we do with Ariana?” Pansy asks, “I mean, she’s already dead, we can’t kill her twice, can we?”

Harry frowns, looking around the courtyard they’re all sitting in during break. He sighs, “Azkaban?”

“How the hell do we make sure she never gets out and possesses someone else? I mean really, how many people have gotten out of Azkaban now?” Ginny asks, looking troubled. She looks like that a lot these days. The others all know that possession is a touchy subject for her, only Harry, Ron, and Hermione know exactly why.

Blaise looks up. “We might have another option,” He says. Blaise looks at the ground for a moment before nodding to himself. “Give me until tomorrow. I’ll have something by then,” He tells them before he suddenly gets up and leaves.

“Well, that was weird,” Hermione comments before she sighs, rubbing at her chest.

“What’s wrong?” Draco asks her, feeling her confusion and concern.

Hermione shakes her head, “I don’t know. I keep feeling… _something_ , like a ball of fear in my chest, but it’s not mine.”

Draco raises an eyebrow, “Huh. I had wondered.”

“Wondered what?” Hermione questions her brother.

“When Father died…” Draco trails off for a moment, a tear falling from his eye before he can stop it. He wipes it away, smiling gratefully at Harry when he puts an arm around his shoulders. He knows Harry’s not great with physical affection and so appreciates the effort even more. He turns back to Hermione, “You felt it just as much as I did.”

“Moody said –”

“About the empathic connection, I know. And that’s all true as well. But you’re still feeling things you shouldn’t be. You grew up in the muggle world, un-nurtured by magic. It’s possible that first feeling of empathy opened a gift that had been unconsciously shut away. That feeling of fear? It’s been present in Hogwarts since the Tri-Wizard Tournament ended,” He explains.

“You feel this all the time?” She asks.

Draco shrugs, “The castle is unhappy. Feelings in buildings fade slower than humans. After all, mortar and brick, everything about a building is made to last. Humanity is fleeting. And this building has seen a lot of bad things, especially lately. Then add on the fear the student body has been projecting for two years straight…it won’t clear up any time soon.”

Harry can’t help it at that. Everyone gazes at the building, but he reaches out and touches the wall, internally apologising for all the pain related to him that has occurred within its walls. A vine growing on the wall suddenly moves, curling around Harry’s arm comfortingly before it falls back into place.

“Erm…”

Harry turns to see everyone staring at him. He shrugs, “I think Hogwarts likes me.”

“Remus!”

Remus looks up from his dinner to see Sirius coming into the room. He breaks out into a grin as he kisses and then hugs him. “What are you doing here?”

“We need your help with something,” Dumbledore tells him.

“And before you freak out, it’s Harry’s plan, so although it may _sound_ insane, it’ll probably work anyway,” Sirius assures him.

Remus looks around the room and sees everyone looking far less confused than he feels. “Well this feels like a conspiracy. The fuck do you want?”

“Actually it’s your furrier half that we need.” Remus opens his mouth to argue when Sirius shakes his head. “Nope, sit, listen.” Remus rolls his eyes but sits.

“We need to use Moony to get close to you-know-who’s pet snake,” Tonks explains, as though that clears up any of his confusion.

“Why?” He asks, looking at them all.

“She’s a horcrux and we need to get her so that Harry can kill her because he’s the only one who knows how,” Sirius replies.

Remus raises an eyebrow, “You can’t just ask him how to do it and then not have to bring the snake anywhere?”

Everyone looks at each other awkwardly.

“Imma…head back to school real quick,” Sirius announces.

He comes back twenty minutes later, holding something far away from his body. “Look, all I know is it’s venomous, and that that venom is deadly and also hurts a lot? Something about a phoenix, I don’t know getting a straight answer out of Harry is, well, I was going to say pulling teeth but…” Sirius holds up the fang Harry had given him.

“What is that from?” Del asks.

Tom looks at it before his eyes widen, _“Oh,_ yeah, okay, everything makes sense now. Wait oh my god, that _bit_ him?! I am a terrible father.” Del puts an arm around him, hugging him close.

“Mmkay then, anyway,” Tonks comments before looking to Remus, “You’re up, Re-Re.”

“Oh wait, drink this first. Severus had some from last year, Umbridge or something, I’m not clear on the details,” Sirius explains, handing over the vial of veritaserum.

Remus looks between all of them, they all nod. He swallows the potion and lets Moony through. Or rather, he tries. “Moony doesn’t seem to want to talk,” Remus tells them with a frown.

“Of course he doesn’t,” Mary murmurs, dropping her face into her hands in frustration.

Tonks walks over, kneeling in front of Remus and looking into his eyes. “Moony, please, we need to talk to you. You promised you’d trust me. Trust me now.” Remus’ eyes suddenly change and an angry pout over takes his face.

“Moony!” Mary calls happily earning a shocked look.

“Siri said you were gone,” Moony says, shooting a glare to the man in question, though it softens in an instant. “Remus thought you were gone too.”

Sirius smiles gently at the wolf, “I’m here. So is Mary, we were wrong about that. And Del and Tom too, it’s been a weird while. Oh, and Peter. And Peter’s kid! New Cub! That’s exciting, isn’t it?”

Moony looks at Sirius suspiciously, cocking his head to the side in query. “You don’t…not fear…but fast words isn’t always happy,” He says, trying to remember the things about human emotion that Sev had tried to teach him.

“We need your help with something,” Tonks tells him.

“There’s this snake that Voldemort has. We need it,” Moody tells him gruffly.

“I think I made myself clear on things,” Moony states harshly, making everyone glad they’d had the forethought to send Dumbledore back to Hogwarts before doing this.

“Look,” Tonks says, “I can’t imagine what it felt like, losing your ch-Cub. And I can understand wanting to get back at Dumbledore for that. But Harry, your Pack’s Cub, he needs this. I’m not asking you to help _us_. I’m asking you to help _him_.”

Moony hesitates for a moment. Then he sees something behind Tonks, a picture on a wall, and he nods. “Okay. I’ll help him get the snake. But I don’t ever want to see the bad man,” Moony dictates.

Sirius nods, “That’s fair enough. We just need you to go get the snake and that’ll be the end of it.”

Moony looks at Sirius for a moment, sniffing slightly before curling his nose up and moving towards the floo, “You shouldn’t smell like Mate. Remus makes bad choices.” He goes through the floo, leaving a spluttering room in his wake.

“Erm, Ri,” Del says, getting his attention. He looks over. “What the hell is moving in your pocket?”

“Ah, yes,” He reaches in and pulls out a snake which he sets on the table, “This is Illa, she’s Harry’s snake.”

“What is she doing here?”

Sirius nods, “Yeah, so, now that he’s gone you should all probably know what’s really going on here.”

_Sirius steps out of the floo into Hogwarts, turning into Padfoot and sniffing out his Son._

_“Hi, Professor Black!” A few students call as he moves down the halls, he barks back, swishing his tail happily._

_Finally, he finds Harry sitting in a courtyard. He transforms back as he walks over. “Harry, mind if I have a word?”_

_Harry and Sirius walk off a ways before he turns to Harry again. “I need to know how you’re destroying horcruxes.”_

_“Basilisk fang, potent venom, very painful, don’t recommend unless you have a Phoenix handy.”_

_Sirius stares at him in what would be shock if he weren’t so unshocked by the shocking answer. He nods, “Bypassing everything else, I need the fang. We’re about to get the snake.”_

_Harry’s eyes widen, “Right, well, see, the thing is, the fang will kill Nagini too.”_

_“Yes, we know, but we don’t have another option.”_

_“Right, thing is though, there is one.” Sirius raises an eyebrow as Harry winces. “Don’t tell Mum?”_

_“Yeah I so cannot make that promise. What did you do?”_

_“Ginny sensed a horcrux in me, long story, Godric’s Hollow, everything was a mess. Anyway, we remembered what everyone was saying about the possibility of destroying Moony by only using the killing curse on_ part _of what’s inside Remus.”_

 _Sirius blinks at Harry. “Please_ tell _me you_ didn’t _!”_

_Harry shuffles awkwardly, “I’m fine! And the horcrux is gone now! So I was planning on doing the same thing to Nagini so we didn’t have to kill her. Snakes are people too, Sirius! Or, well, you know what I mean.”_

_“That’s why you were so insistent on being there. Your mother is never going to trust either of us again, I just got done defending you!”_

_“I know! I’m sorry. I just wanted that thing out of my head.”_

_Sirius hugs Harry, holding him close and nodding. “Of course you did, I’m sorry, Harry. You haven’t done anything wrong.”_

_“Look, I know it was my plan, but I’m not so sure about trusting everything to the one who turned on us and got a lot of people killed.”_

_“So what do you want to do?” Sirius asks him._

_“Take a fake basilisk fang, tell them you’ll destroy it with that. I’ll hide in the floo under my cloak and go with him to Malfoy Manor.”_

_“He’s a werewolf, Harry!”_

_“I know how to charm my shoes to be quiet and the Weasley twins came up with a way to mask scent, remember?”_

_Sirius frowns, thinking this through then sighs and nods. “Where do we get a fake Basilisk fang?”_

“So we transfigured a water bottle to look like a Basilisk fang,” Sirius explains, “Harry’s going to destroy the horcrux in Nagini and then let Moony bring her back here so that she’s safe from Voldemort. Illa’s going to help convince Nagini that she’s safe here.”

Everyone stares at him for a moment.

“Well there’s a lot to unpack there,” Tonks comments, bewildered as she takes a seat.

“Harry was a horcrux?” Tom asks, he looks ashamed, as though it were his fault someone possessed him and attacked his sister-in-law and child.

“Harry cast the killing curse on himself?!” Molly screeches.

Sirius sighs, nodding, “Said he just wanted to get that thing out of his head.”

“Oh my god he’s going to die, my kid is going to die,” Del mutters, breathing hard as she fights off the intense wave of panic flooding through her.

“He’s got a plan,” Sirius tries to reassure her. They hear the floo go off, and all turn in that direction as a large snake slithers into the room, stopping to regard them all in suspicion.

“Shouldn’t they have come back with Nagini?” Sturgis asks.

Sirius nods as he puts Illa on the floor to speak to Nagini. “Yeah things have not gone according to the plan.”

Harry gets through the floo into Malfoy Manor just as planned, followed Moony through to Voldemort, and lifted the cloak so that Nagini could see him but no one else could. Nagini follows him out of the room, far enough away that they could speak without being overhead.

_“You should not have returned, Little Riddle.”_

Harry nods, _“I know, but I need your help. My father, he’s used some powerful and dark magic on you to keep himself alive. Do you know about it?”_

 _“I am aware,”_ Nagini replies.

 _“I need to destroy it.”_ Nagini flicks her tongue out distastefully. _“What did my father tell you when we first met?”_

_“To keep his reckless son alive.”_

Harry nods at her, _“Exactly. My Father is losing more and more of himself each day. I’ll end up in his way again at some point and in that moment he will kill me.”_

Nagini seems to sigh, she knows it’s true. _“I do not wish to betray him.”_

 _“I know. But, please, let me destroy the evil within you.”_ Nagini hesitates a moment longer, then nods.

Harry puts a hand on her, focusing on the feeling the Killing Curse gives him. He knows his Uncle Moony has used his connection to the Imperius Curse without it first being cast on him, so logically Harry should be able to do the same. Ginny theorised it was the power of the spell coming from another that briefly powers Harry when he goes a little bit nuts after the spell is cast. Surely he should be able to just power it himself. 

He feels the burn in his veins, as though the spell is cast on him as well, but pushes that burn into Nagini, feeling out the part of her that is not part of her and curling the curse around it, feeling it shrivel and die before fading away. He lifts the spell, Nagini on the ground unmoving in front of him.

“Come on, wake up, please wake up.”

Nagini wakes a few moments later, _“You did not mention it would hurt.”_

“Sorry,” Harry answers with a wince.

_“I assume you do not intend to leave me here to be killed?”_

_“No, Moony’s going to be taking you back, he thinks we’re dealing with the horcrux in another place, it’s a long story.”_

Illa looks towards the study in concern, _“If this is the case, why has he not come looking for me?”_

Harry freezes for a moment, blinking. “Wait here.” Harry gets up, wrapping the cloak tight around himself as he creeps to the doorway of the study and listens.

“You must tell them you could not find Nagini, you think I have hidden her away some-”

Harry hurries as quietly as possible back to Nagini, _“There’s another floo in Lord Malfoy’s bedroom. I’m going to send you through to a safe place. Illa will be there, she’ll explain.”_

 _“Why does that make it sound like you are not coming with me?”_ She asks, even as she follows him to the bedroom.

“ _Moony’s up to something and we need to know what it is.”_ Harry nods for her to slither into the floo. Once in, she nods to him, he gives a tight smile as he grabs a handful of floo powder. “The Fortress,” He announces as he throws it in. He immediately hurries back to the study.

“It may not be the worst thing that they know you are the spy,” Voldemort is saying, “If they think you trapped in the house, they will no longer be keeping so close an eye on what is said. When you do get out you shall know more.” 

“If I ever get out,” Moony adds.

Voldemort nods, a hand on his chin in thought. “They do not know that Remus worked out who the spy was two weeks ago, do they?”

“No, they think he has been in control the whole time.”

“Then they must continue thinking that. If they don’t find out you’ve shut Remus away then you may be able to convince them that he’s shut _you_ away.”

Harry closes his eyes in despair, _Oh Uncle Moony,_ he thinks, _I am so sorry, we didn’t know._

Harry steps into the floo again as Moony exits to return to the Fortress.

“Our victory will soon be upon us,” Voldemort tells him.

“Yes, My Lord.”

They arrive moments later.

As Moony exits the floo and opens his mouth to lie to the Order members gathered around, Harry takes off the cloak.

Moony huffs, “Well, so much for that plan.”

“Yeah, so much,” Harry shoots back venomously as he pulls his wand on him. “Let my uncle go!”

“Oh I think he’s had control for long enough!” Moony responds.

“What is going on here?” Sirius asks, the Order gathered around in confusion, the snakes on the ground on either side of Sirius, apparently having taken a liking to him. Dumbledore is present as well, having been called in when they realised something had gone wrong.

“Remus realised Moony was the spy a week before we did.”

“Why didn’t he say anything?” Arthur questions, everybody’s wands pointed at Moony by now.

Harry huffs out a derisive laugh, “Because you lowered the barrier between their minds giving Moony just enough strength so that when he realised he’d been sprung, he forced Remus’ mind to the background and took over. Remus hasn’t been Remus in two weeks.”

“Y-…what?” Sirius asks in a pained voice.

Moony chuckles, turning to look at him. “After everything you wizards have done, Siri, did you _really_ believe I’d have forgiven it all? Remus may be weak and desperate for love but _I am not!_ ”

Sirius feels a tear fall down his face, he doesn’t bother to wipe it away. “We wanted to help you, Moons.”

“No –” Moony says sharply, “– you wanted to help yourselves.”

“Let my Uncle Go!” Harry demands again, more forcefully this time.

“I’ll die before I let you _people_ force me to barely exist again,” Moony replies, a true growl in his voice and snarl on his face.

Everyone is still for a moment, waiting for someone to make the first move.

“Stupefy!” Fleur casts, but a werewolf’s reflexes are better than a humans, and they move quicker too. Moony has Remus’ wand and a shield thrown up in moments, much to everyone’s surprise.

“You should have paid more attention to what I learnt at Hogwarts,” He tells Sirius and Mary, “After all, Remus wasn’t the only one listening.”

A duel starts, but not everyone participates. Mad-Eye and Harry look at each other, Mad Eye raises his eyebrow. Harry nods towards Moony, Mad-Eye doesn’t hesitate.

“ _Avada kedavra!_ ” Alastor casts, quickly blocked by Moony who is distracted enough for Harry to forcefully roll, knocking his legs and making the wolf fall to the ground. As Moony’s attention turns to Harry, Alastor casts again, “ _Avada kedavra!”_

The spell hits Moony this time, Harry instantly putting a hand on his head, feeling the spell killing both Moony and Remus. He redirects the power to only hit pieces of Moony. But this is different than with horcruxes. A horcrux is inside a living being, but it is not a _part_ of that being. Moony very much is.

Harry tries to untangle the two personalities, un-burying Remus’ mind in the process. He forces the spell to encase Moony’s once they are separate, but feels parts of Remus dying. He pulls the spell away, trying to do the opposite, trying to lift death away from them instead of forcing it upon them. Moony dies, but Harry can feel the powerful life-force of Remus remaining strong. He lets go and pulls away, nearly collapsing. It suddenly occurs to him that if Moody had cast the spell on him, it would have hurt, but he’d have been given an energy boost to help, as opposed to all of that sapping his own.

Bill catches him before he falls to the ground. “All right, Harry?”

Harry nods weakly, “Yeah, all right.”

“Remus?” Sirius whispers as he kneels beside the unmoving body of the love of his life. He takes his hand, feeling an unsettling coldness.

“Did it take a minute when you tried this on yourself?” Tonks asks Harry who blinks blearily at Moony when Bill sits him up enough to see.

“What I did on myself was far less complicated. But yes, Ginny thought I was dead for a solid minute.”

“Remus?” Sirius calls again, voice thick as he brushes hair out of Remus’ face. “Remus wake up, please, I need you to wake up, come back to me.” Sirius starts crying when Remus still doesn’t move, doesn’t breathe. Mary moves beside him, pulling him into a hug as he holds onto Remus’ hand. 

“Wait, look!” Molly exclaims, they all see Remus’ eyelids flutter before they open and he breathes in.

“Oh fuck why does everything hurt,” Remus asks, wincing even at that.

“Oh thank Merlin,” Sirius says, basically collapsing on Remus’ chest as he sobs, this time in relief.

“Ow, fuck, ow,” Remus groans, though he puts a hand on Sirius’ head, stroking his hair gently. “What’s going on?” He asks, looking to the rest of the room because Sirius looks entirely incapable of answering at the moment.

“You died,” Peter replies, looking distressed still.

“Oh, shit,” Remus comments calmly earning a wet laugh from the face still buried in his chest. “Hey, Pads, can I get up? And then we can continue hugging without most of your weight crushing me?”

“Fine,” comes Sirius’ muffled replies. Mary and Sirius help Remus sit up before Sirius latches on again.

“Much better,” Remus says, hugging him back. He sees Harry who, while now sitting up on his own, is looking quite pale. “Are you okay?”

“I mean, I just killed my Uncle but aside from that, yeah.”

“I think someone should fill me in,” Remus requests.

They manage to convince Sirius to let go long enough to get them all into the living room, both Remus and Harry drinking juice that Molly had shoved into their hands. Then they explain.

“Wait, hold up, _you’re_ teaching at Hogwarts?” Remus asks Sirius who huffs.

“Really? That’s the bit you’re disbelieving?”

“He has tried to quit twice already,” Dumbledore reveals, an amused twinkle in his eye that for once Remus shares.

Then grief fills Remus’ eye, “And Lucius is dead?”

“I’m so sorry, Remus,” Mary tells him at that, Remus nods, leaning further into Sirius.

“How did you work out that Moony was the spy?” Peter asks him.

“Nothing with the mole happened after I quit. It didn’t start again until I started being here again. I knew I wasn’t the spy so I didn’t know what that meant, until Kingsley mentioned bringing Moony out at some point to see how he reacts to Sirius being alive again.” Remus sighs, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “That’s when I remembered that I’m not the only one who left and then returned.”

“I’m sorry, Uncle…” Harry trails off awkwardly.

“You did the right thing, Harry,” Remus tells him, nodding. Harry nods back awkwardly.

“Why are you always like this, what the fuck could you be laughing at right now?” Sirius demands when he notices Peter holding in a snicker.

Peter shrugs, “You’re going to have to think up a new nickname again.”

Sirius stares at him for a moment. Then, quite against his will, his lip twitches up slightly, and then he snickers a little. Remus chuckles too, as does Pete.

“I’ll work on it.”

Hours later, fire from the study fireplace at Malfoy Manor comes soaring out, words burning themselves onto the wall.

_We need to talk. By the lake in the forbidden Forest. Midnight._

_Inimicus_

Voldemort stares at the writing for a moment, then nods slowly to himself. He has things to prepare.


	43. Too Many Questions In My Head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning - apparently unbreakable vows cause some people some distress. There is one performed in this chapter, be warned.

Chapter 42 – Too Many Questions In My Head

Note: Chapter Title from Little Mix’s song ‘Case Closed’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Hours later, fire from the study fireplace at Malfoy Manor comes soaring out, words burning themselves onto the wall._

We need to talk. By the lake in the forbidden Forest. Midnight.

Inimicus

_Voldemort stares at the writing for a moment, then nods slowly to himself. He has things to prepare._

Now,

Harry stands at the edge of the lake in the Forbidden Forest, decked out in his Inimicus outfit.

Moments later, a figure approaches, and Harry is shocked to realise his scar doesn’t hurt at all. It had been the horcrux all along…

“You wished for an audience?” Voldemort asks, speaking incredibly patronisingly.

Inimicus drops the blanket in which he had wrapped the broken diadem and locket. Voldemort stares at them in shock.

“Believe me, there’s more where that came from,” Inimicus declares.

“You are the reason they came for Nagini,” Voldemort realises.

Inimicus lets out a garbled chuckle through the voice disguiser. “Oh, the Order has no idea they were helping me, but yes. Through them I had a few destroyed. And then poor little unsuspecting Harry Potter, of course, destroyed the diary many years ago, as I am sure you are aware.” Inimicus takes a step forward. “So you see, Lord Voldemort, if I kill you now, there will be no half-death. You will be finished.”

“Then why do you hesitate?” Voldemort questions, hating the vulnerability that he feels, but confident that the Death Eaters hidden nearby can deal with the child if there is a problem.

“Because I do not wish to kill you. As I told you when we first met, I intend to use you to discredit and destroy Dumbledore. Finally, it is time for that to happen.” Voldemort looks at him in surprise. Inimicus nods. “I want you to speak against him, Ariana. Tell them what happened, what Dumbledore did to you. Make them aware of exactly what he created when he murdered his own sister.”

“And why would I do this?” Voldemort asks, his voice coming through as it did when Bellatrix died, dual voices, and for once Harry can hear Ariana speaking.

“You’re the one who wanted him to suffer,” Inimicus explains, “I’m giving you that chance. It’s that, or you die where you stand.”

Voldemort debates this. “And what happens to me after that? If I stand before the Wizarding World to tell them this, they will kill me. How is that any better?”

“You are already dead,” Harry reminds her, “This is your chance to punish Dumbledore for that fact. Does it matter what happens afterwards? Your purpose will be fulfilled.”

Voldemort doesn’t remember the day Ariana died, doesn’t remember being her anymore, it’s been so long and so many vessels have melded with her own. All Voldemort has known for many years now, is that Albus Dumbledore must be destroyed.

He nods.

“That agreement is not good enough.”

“Then what do you require?” Voldemort asks short-temperedly.

Inimicus holds a hand out. “Nothing short of an unbreakable vow.”

Voldemort hesitates a moment longer, but he’s been working to bring down Dumbledore for too long to pass on what may well be his best chance to succeed.

Voldemort clasps Inimicus’ gloved hand. “Who will perform the spell?”

“That would be me,” Severus says as he walks forward, surprising Voldemort.

Voldemort chuckles, “You turned on me, then Dumbledore. Are you loyal to anyone?”

“Call it self-preservation. I work for the one I believe will win.” Severus touches the tip of his wand to the conjoined hands.

“Will you, when I go to the public, speak against Dumbledore?”

“I will,” Voldemort declares.

“And will you tell the truth of who you are, what you are, and how you came to be?”

“I will.”

“And will you bring absolutely no harm to anyone from now until you have concluded speaking against him when I have requested.”

Voldemort hesitates at this, then sighs, “I will,” He says resignedly. Naturally, this does not say his Death Eaters cannot bring harm.

The rings that had wrapped around their hands fade, leaving marks on their skin.

“I shall contact you when it is time. It will be within three days,” Inimicus reveals. Voldemort nods. 

Inimicus then links arms with Severus who apparates them into the tunnel leading from the acromantula nest into the Chamber of Secrets.

“So how did you know that spell for the whole fire words on the wall thing?” Harry asks Severus after removing his mask.

Severus snickers as they walk down the tunnel back to the school. “I made it to torment Gryffindors when I was a teenager.”

Harry laughs as they walk. “Not even surprised.”

The Reapers are in the Graveyard when they return, waiting to hear how it went.

“We got the vow,” Harry announces, everyone looking excited about that.

“We’ve been talking,” Blaise tells him. Harry raises an eyebrow at him.

“We think enough people have died,” Luna explains, “You said that you’d present evidence to the public and they’d decide whether or not he is guilty so that when you killed him no one would care to stop it.” Harry doesn’t recall saying that to her but is unsurprised that they’ve all been talking.

“Yes, and?” Harry asks, sounding irritated that they seem to be backing out just as they are about to win.

Draco walks forward, taking his hands, “We want to aim for a different outcome, that’s all.”

“Such as?”

“Bind his magic, banish him to the Muggle world, make him legally unable to enter the wizarding world again,” Hermione tells him.

“And what’s to stop someone feeling sympathetic and unbinding his powers? What’s to make him follow the law?” Harry demands rather angrily. They had all expected such a reaction so none are particularly surprised.

“We are,” Neville tells him.

Pansy nods, “We’ll keep an eye on him, we’ll make sure he’s following the rules and that no one is helping him get around them.”

Harry crosses his arms, looking rather unwilling to go along with this. He looks to Severus to see what he thinks.

“They’re right, Harry. There’s been enough death.”

“This all started because he got people killed!” Harry argues.

“So don’t end this by becoming him!” Ron says harshly, “You want to build a better world? Well that starts with how we deal with this.”

Harry hesitates a moment, “I’ll think about it,” he concedes before he stalks out of the chamber.

“You know I’m really not sure that we managed to convince him,” Blaise tells the others.

“Inimicus or no, Riddle-Potter-Black or no, he is still Harry Potter, just as we have always known him,” Luna says airily, “He may dislike it, but he will do the right thing.”

Finally reaching the weekend, everyone leaves for Hogsmeade, Sirius being entrusted, for God only knows what reason, to take the third years down.

“That _cannot_ end well,” Harry comments, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed as he sees Sirius trying to get the kids corralled enough to tick their names off the list.

“I can hear you,” Sirius says, glaring at him.

Harry smiles innocently at him. “Have fun, _Dad_ ,” Harry tells him. Sirius huffs and turns back to the kids, but Harry can see the smile on his face. Harry finds that his smile hasn’t faded either. Then it does, unsure what his newly-found parents will think of all this Inimicus stuff when it all comes out.

As everyone heads to Hogsmeade, Harry secretly meets Remus near the fence blocking off the Shrieking Shack.

“You’re sure everything’s ready for this?” Remus asks him, nervous about everything finally coming to a head.

Harry smiles, nodding. “I solemnly swear it.”

Remus chuckles, nodding. “Well then, best suit up.”

Harry pulls on his Inimicus suit and then his invisibility cloak. Remus apparates Harry to an alley just down from the Daily Prophet main office in Diagon Alley. “Good luck,” Remus tells him before he heads to Weasley Wizards Wheezes, if only because he knows he’s not going to get attacked there.

Harry walks into the Editor’s office without issue, finding it empty. He pulls off his invisibility cloak and looks at the issues framed and displayed on the office walls, along with various awards.

About a minute later, the door opens and the Editor walks in, talking with someone.

“Erm, you know what, I trust your judgement, you deal with this,” He tells the photographer with whom he was attempting to select photos for the next edition.

“Barnabus Cuffe, I assume?” Inimicus asks.

Barnabus nods, “And you are?”

“Inimicus.” Barnabus’ eyes widen. Inimicus walks forward. “I see you’ve heard of me.”

“Who hasn’t, these days? You’ve made quite the impression.”

“And now I intend to make a bigger one, but I need your help to do so.”

Barnabus sits behind his desk, watching Inimicus calculatingly. “What is it you need?”

“A story run. I wish to bring justice against an important figure in the Wizarding World, and I want the citizens to decide how it goes.”

“But to get them involved, they need to know it is happening,” Barnabus concludes, Inimicus inclines his head. “Who is it you’re going after?”

“Albus Dumbledore.”

“Yeah, should’ve figured, all things considered. Though I’ll admit, a lot of us were hoping you’d deal with Voldemort too,” Barnabus explains.

Inimicus chuckles, “Oh believe me, that’s happening too. He’s presenting evidence against Dumbledore and will then be turned over to the proper authorities.”

Barnabus’ eyes widen, then he nods slowly. “Well, I suppose in response to that, I’d be a fool not to help. But Dumbledore, he’s a powerful man to make an enemy of. I’d hate to see myself or my employees suffer for it. You sure you’ll win in this…let’s call it an unconventional trial.”

“If the Wizarding World fails to see what is right in front of them after everything I have to prove it, we have bigger problems than Dumbledore after all.” 

Barnabus nods once again, “Right then. Let’s get started.”

Once it’s over, Harry uses the cloak to sneak over to George’s shop and into the back room where Remus agreed to be waiting.

“Ready to go?” Harry asks. Remus nods and apparates him back to Hogsmeade. He takes Harry’s suit, going to the tunnel in the forbidden forest and stashing it in the Chamber before returning to the Fortress. Harry goes on to have a pleasant day in Hogsmeade.

At breakfast the next morning, there is shock and accomplishment and concern and many other things flooding the Great Hall as people read the Prophet, showing it to others around them, many looking to Dumbledore as they do so.

“I think you’d better see this, Headmaster,” Flitwick tells him, handing him a copy.

**_Inimicus Speaks Out. Dumbledore Stands Accused._ **

**_Yesterday, Inimicus came to my office with charges to lay at the Headmaster of Hogwarts’ feet. We spoke at length about exactly what he wished to accomplish._ **

**_“I wish to bring to light several things the Headmaster would rather kept hidden. The Wizarding World deserves to know the truth about the man they rally behind,” Inimicus told me._ **

**_Inimicus challenges Dumbledore to join him in Hogsmeade tomorrow at noon and face the charges. He invites every member of the public who can make it to do so, for it will not be Inimicus who passes the final judgement on Dumbledore. Inimicus invites you all to consider the evidence he presents._ **

**_“The citizens of Britain’s magical community should be the ones deciding if this man is the one they want shaping who their children grow to be. Is this the man we want shaping our future?”_ **

**_The charges stand as followed._ **

**_The claim:_ **

**_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is unfit to hold the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts and too dangerous an individual to be allowed to remain in the Wizarding World._ **

**_Grounds:_ **

**_Dumbledore has knowingly and wilfully endangered the lives of all Hogwarts students attending at the time of the incidents on three separate occasions, leading to the death of a student on one. First in 1975, then 1991, and finally in 1994. And in the current schooling year, has shown erratic behaviour causing students great concern for their own safety._ **

**_Dumbledore knowingly and wilfully refused to remove a child from an abusive home in which he had previously placed the child, despite plentiful evidence of said abuse being brought to his attention on numerous occasions._ **

**_Dumbledore kidnapped a child, assaulting said child’s God-Father in order to do so, and abandoned the child into the muggle foster system._ **

**_Dumbledore forced a juvenile student to ingest a substance to which she is allergic, and threatened to expel her from the school should she refuse._ **

**_Dumbledore altered the sentencing of a wizard in Muggle prison to exceed the original time of imprisonment from 1 year to a life-sentence with no additional offence being committed._ **

**_Dumbledore aided the criminal Gellert Grindelwald in his original attempts to overthrow the Ministry of Magic._ **

**_Finally, in the summer of 1899, Albus Dumbledore murdered Ariana Dumbledore and created the dark wizard we all have come to know as Lord Voldemort._ **

****

**_I’m sure that, like me, you’ll be joining them in Hogsmeade tomorrow to help decide the fate of our world, and of our children._ **

Dumbledore reads through this, the frown growing on his face. His heart in his throat as he reads the final accusation. He forces himself to re-read the accusations, noticing several things and remembering a few others.

He looks up at the Main Table, seeing many still reading, and others staring at him. He looks to Harry who smirks at him and gives a small salute. Albus takes a deep breath, nodding gently a few times as he looks back to the paper. He should have known.

Nobody inspires loyalty like Harry can.

“Is any of it true?” Filius asks Albus.

“’course it’s not, Dumbledore’d never do any of this!” Hagrid immediately defends.

“Can’t help but notice he isn’t denying it,” Sirius comments, raising an eyebrow.

Albus ignores them, regarding the paper. Harry isn’t an idiot, he would never have made such bold claims without a lot of strong evidence to back them up, or prove them without a doubt. Dumbledore finds himself genuinely unsure how tomorrow will go, but to ignore the summons would be an admission of guilt in and of itself.

Albus stands, the Hall falling silent in a moment.

“I suppose it is only fair to cancel classes tomorrow. You all have as much stake in these proceedings and should therefore have the option to attend. Those of you without current permission to visit Hogsmeade should write to your parents and attempt to gain such should you wish to attend…whatever this is,” He tells them all before he exits the hall.

“Albus,” Minerva calls quiet enough that the students will not hear, he turns back to look at her questioningly. Minerva hesitates for a moment, “You should know…I’ve been asked to speak tomorrow.” The other teachers look on in shock except Severus.

“I expect many in the room have been. I hope you will tell the absolute truth, Minerva. It is the only way all of this will be put to rest.” With that, Dumbledore leaves the room.

The castle is buzzing for the rest of the day, the teachers are all damned glad it’s Sunday and they aren’t dealing with classes while the students are like this.

Unlike the students, the teachers are solemn. Most had not seen this coming, Minerva still unsure what she wants the outcome to be, only knowing that this has to happen. Severus knows damned well what he wants the outcome to be, but that does not mean he feels no trepidation about upending the Wizarding World.

George is in Hogsmeade, apparently the residents had decided to set up a stage area for the ‘trial’ to take place. George sets up large screens like those used at the Quidditch World Cup, though a great deal smaller. He puts many up around the place with the aid of the townspeople, hoping for a _very_ large turnout.

He organises with Madam Puddifoot to keep their witnesses in her café until they need to be called out. He puts the pensieve he bought on the stage, ready for use tomorrow. He then sorts out special placement right by the stage for Barnabus Cuffe and his photographer, as was agreed when he helped Inimicus. Then chairs are placed on the stage, enough for Dumbledore, Inimicus, the Minister for Magic, and an Auror.

Finally, he places a box behind the stage, enlarging it until it is taller than the trees and scaled appropriately for that height in width and depth.

“Thank you for all of your help,” George tells those that had aided him in setting up.

“Nothing this exciting has happened ‘round here in years,” One of them says, “Not since a bunch of Death Eaters showed up with no bloody memory of anything back in the ‘70s.”

George looks confused at that before shaking his head, “Marauder related, I’m sure.”

Sirius heads to the Fortress, intent on finding out what the Order thinks of all this. He finds Remus in the living room, drinking, unsurprisingly, hot chocolate.

“Hey, Love,” Sirius greets, moving to sit on the couch beside him.

Remus smiles at him, eyes crinkling in the way they do when the smile is genuine happiness. Sirius loves that crinkle.

“Crazy business going on, eh?” Sirius asks. Remus frowns, and Sirius gets a sinking feeling in an instant.

“Sirius…I need your help with something.” Sirius raises an eyebrow at him. He sits up straighter, putting his hot chocolate on the side table and turning to face him properly. “Sirius, I’ve been working for Inimicus.”

“M’sorry, what now?”

“I know, I know.” Remus sighs, “Sirius, Dumbledore has done some bad things –”

“I knew you hated the man but don’t you think this is a step too far?!” Sirius asks, standing as he does so.

“We’re only trying to prove what he’s done, what the public decides to do after that, it’s nothing to do with us!”

“You’ve been betraying the Order, betraying _me_ ,” Sirius tells him, “Do you get that?”

Remus nods, looking down for a moment before meeting his eyes again, “I know. I get it. But it’s like you said, Sirius. If you’d turn on your best mate for it, that’s when you know it’s worth it. I _believe_ in this, Padfoot. In a way I’ve never believed in anything, never seen anything as worth fighting for. But Dumbledore has done bad things and whether I like the man or not does not add nor detract from that fact. He can’t keep getting away with it.”

“How long have you been working for him?” Sirius demands angrily, apparently unconvinced.

“Since before you came back from the dead. Long before.”

Peter suddenly walks into the room. “What’s with all the yelling?”

Sirius turns to him, about to say something when he hesitates, apparently unwilling to throw Remus under the bus. But when Remus nods for Peter to come into the room, Sirius’ anger resurges. “He’s been working for Inimicus!”

Peter’s eyes widen, “Plot twist.”

“Plot twist?” Sirius asks, “You find out one of your most trusted friends has turned on you and your only response is to say fucking _Plot Twist?!_ ”

“Why are you telling us now?” Peter asks Remus. Sirius goes to shout again before remembering that Peter does this. He turns, still clearly fuming, to face Remus again.

“Because our evidence can’t all be coming from the same spot. You were both present for events that prove some of our claims.”

“Inimicus wants to use our memories of said events,” Peter guesses, Remus nods.

“Oh, so you’ve been talking to him about us?” Remus sighs at Sirius’ words. “I’m not going to help you discredit a man because he disapproved of your girlfriend twenty-five years ago!”

“I mean…and he killed his kid, but yeah,” Peter comments, Sirius glares at him.

“Look, Sirius –” Remus begins, finally standing up with the other two. “– hate me if you want. But whatever your feelings for me, it’s got nothing to do with what’s happening now. All we are doing, is proving what we know Dumbledore has done. If it’s all true, what is the harm in presenting it and letting people decide if they are willing to look past it?” Sirius turns his glare on Remus.

“What memory is it he wants us to provide?” Peter asks, significantly calmer about everything than Sirius is.

“Your memory of our conversation with Grindelwald.”

“Why would they trust the word of a man who literally admits in that conversation that he hallucinates?” Peter asks him with a frown.

Remus shakes his head, “They won’t, but it’ll push Dumbledore to either show his own memory of things, or some other proof that those allegations are false, or admit his guilt on that front.”

“And me?” Sirius asks, “What does he want from me?”

“Your testimony, recounting the events that lead to the battle in the Dark Forest, the night we obliviated those Death Eaters. And to show your memory of us warning him and his refusal to help,” Remus explains.

“Remus the allegations in that paper…they’ll ask for his execution!” Sirius tells him.

“Inimicus will step in and stop that from happening.”

“And you’re sure of that, are you?”

Remus hesitates, “…Well, the others are still trying to convince him of that. But I’m 100% they’ll succeed.” Peter and Sirius raise eyebrows at him. “98% sure.”

Peter sighs but he nods, “I’ll do it.” Sirius looks at him in shock. “Sirius, if having the truth be known ends badly for Dumbledore, don’t you think there’s a reason for that?”

Sirius debates this for a moment, a frown on his face. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Thank you,” Remus tells him, a relieved tone to his voice.

Sirius huffs before he storms out of the room and back through the floo leaving a heartbroken Remus behind.

Sirius leaves the Fortress, going to Potter Mansion to see Delphini. He finds Tessel trying to feed the uncooperative infant some baby food.

“Mind if I have a go?” Sirius asks him.

Tessel smiles, nodding quickly and handing the food over making Sirius chuckle as he leaves.

“Hi there, Little One,” Sirius greets. Delphini smiles at him, giving him a chance to stick the spoon in her mouth. She smacks away at it before swallowing the food. Sirius internally fist-bumps at the success. “Whatever happens tomorrow will determine what Hogwarts is like when you are there. I hope it all goes well. Though, if everything on that list of accusations is true, and I know some of it is, then I’m not really sure what constitutes it going well anymore. All I know is, this war will end. And for your safety, that’s the most important thing.”

When he’s finally got her to eat the bowl of food, Sirius kisses his grand-daughter on the head. “I love you, Delphi.”


	44. And I'm Still Waiting For A Why

Chapter 43 – And I’m Still Waiting For A Why

Note: Chapter Title from Little Mix’s song ‘Case Closed’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“Whatever happens tomorrow will determine what Hogwarts is like when you are there. I hope it all goes well. Though, if everything on that list of accusations is true, and I know some of it is, then I’m not really sure what constitutes it going well anymore. All I know is, this war will end. And for your safety, that’s the most important thing.”_

_When he’s finally got her to eat the bowl of food, Sirius kisses his grand-daughter on the head. “I love you, Delphi.”_

Now,

At 11:30am on the 27th of April 1997 the entire student body and teaching staff of Hogwarts heads into Hogsmeade together. They find the place already packed with people in all directions, but based on the speakers and screens around the place, they know they won’t miss anything. The Headmaster heads towards the front, people parting to let him through, watching him with suspicion. 

Draco, Pansy, Remus, and Blaise are in Madam Puddifoot’s with the witnesses, all of them having headed down earlier. Inimicus stands in there too, he and his reapers all in their outfits.

At 11:45am, the Minister arrives. Draco notices and goes out to greet him, escorting him to his seat along with Mad-Eye, the Auror Scrimgeour had elected to have with him on stage. Many other Aurors are around the place, naturally, to keep the peace. Inimicus had agreed to have Tonks in with the witnesses in case something goes wrong. She’s less than pleased to find Voldemort in there, for all that he appears to be pouting about something. Though, with the Reapers in the room, none of the witnesses seem all too concerned about the Dark Lord. Perhaps that is what he’s pouting about.

“So, how do you feel about all this?” Scrimgeour asks Dumbledore who smiles serenely.

“Whatever happens is the will of the people, that is the point of a democracy, Rufus.”

Moody frowns, “Can they prove those claims are true?” Albus looks at his hands and elects not to answer.

At precisely 12pm, Inimicus joins the Minister, Moody, and Dumbledore on stage.

“We meet at last,” Scrimgeour greets, “I must say, I’ve been curious since the reports of your activities first came to my attention.”

Inimicus nods to him. “Hopefully, Minister, this is the last time we meet. After this I should no longer be needed in this capacity.” Scrimgeour nods his agreement to that as he retakes his seat. Inimicus stands centre stage, pulling his wand out and pointing at his throat, casting an amplifying charm and hoping his voice disguiser doesn’t make listening too painful an experience when coupled with it. He nods to Pansy, dressed as Addens, who activates the screens. Silence falls as people turn to their closest screen or, for those within viewing distance, to the stage. “Thank you all for coming out, I’m sure we can all agree this is an important occasion. And, although I am grateful for your attendance, it is certainly not a joyful event. Because I stand here to accuse a man we all trusted of several crimes. But more importantly, I am here to provide evidence, so you may all decide his guilt or innocence. Before we begin, I believe it only fair that Dumbledore be given a chance to speak.”

Inimicus steps back, nodding to Dumbledore who steps forth, casting his own amplifying charm. “All I wish to say is this: Any and all actions I have taken have been because I believed it was in the best interests of our world. And whether or not you decide these actions make me guilty of a crime, it will not change that the intent behind them was pure. I only meant to give you all the best and safest world I could.” Dumbledore retakes his seat, a solemn silence, and many nods from the crowd, follows his words.

Minister Scrimgeour steps forth, “The first charge you laid was that Albus Dumbledore knowingly and wilfully endangered his students, in one instance leading to the death of a student. If you will present your evidence of these events, and the danger they posed, beginning with the incident in 1976,” He requests before retaking his seat.

Inimicus recasts the amplifying charm. “In 1976, as I’m sure many of you are aware, 36 Death Eaters showed up in Hogsmeade having been obliviated. There was a battle in what was then called the ‘Dark Forest’ but is now known as the ‘Forbidden Forest’. That battle was between Gryffindor students and the Death Eaters.” Murmurs are heard from within the crowd. “What you will not be aware of, is that Dumbledore had been warned about the Death Eater presence, and that they intended to raid the school. He refused to do anything in response, and as such the students protected the school themselves. Had they done nothing, 36 Death Eaters, at the height of the First Wizarding War, would have raided Hogwarts, because the school’s own Headmaster refused to take action.”

“Do you deny this, Albus?” Scrimgeour asks him through the charm so that all can hear.

Dumbledore sighs, “No, I do not. But they were not within the bounds of the school, lawfully speaking I had no right to act.”

“So you thought leaving our kids in danger was the best option?!” Someone shouts from the crowd.

“Did you even report it?!” Another audience member yells out in question.

Inimicus turns to Dumbledore, apparently requesting an answer. “No, I did not. It was all over by the morning after it was brought to my attention.”

“I want to know more about the battle, all of Gryffindor against 36 Death Eaters sounds like pretty good odds,” Moody requests.

Inimicus looks down to Draco, standing as Amans by the side of the stage. He heads into Madam Puddifoots.

“Yeah so we kind of weren’t expecting him to admit that so readily,” Remus tells Sirius who huffs.

“Remus, if I show my memory of that battle, it’ll show your whole thing with the thing and the thing thing thing!”

“Can’t I show mine and Remus show his of the Grindelwald thing?” Peter asks.

“We need Remus’ testimony for another incident, we don’t want them all coming from the same place,” Blaise, as Tutamen, explains. “No one else can provide a memory of that.”

Amans tilts his head to the side, “That’s not true. All right, Pettigrew, do this, I’ll be back.”

Tutamen escorts Peter to the stage. Inimicus looks to Tutamen who just nods for him to go with it.

“Mr Pettigrew was present for the battle and an active participant in it,” Inimicus states.

“How can we be sure what he says is accurate?” Scrimgeour asks. 

Inimicus pulls out the pensieve, “We’re all going to see it as well.”

Peter pulls his memory from his head and puts it into the pensieve, then sticking his head into it, the pensieve charmed to show the memory so that everyone can view it just as in the courtroom.

The memory begins when Gryffindor house reached the tree line of the forest and ends with the Death Eaters being obliviated for the second time in Hogsmeade.

“Were any of the students injured? We saw nothing more than scrapes there,” Scrimgeour questions, though he looks unimpressed with Dumbledore as it is.

“One student was fatally injured,” Peter replies after thinking for a moment. Inimicus hides his surprise at this. “I don’t know if you know about the incident, but at the time Minerva McGonagall had been de-aged to a teenager and was a fifth-year student in the school until she was re-aged. She was stabbed during the battle and would have died if one of the students hadn’t had her take the potion Professor Slughorn had brewed to re-age her.”

“If they had this potion, why wasn’t she already re-aged?” The Minister asks.

Peter sighs, “Minnie decided she didn’t want to be re-aged, she wanted to grow up again at a normal rate.” The crowd seems very shocked about that, all of the current students thinking about how close they came to never having Professor McGonagall as a teacher. “When she was dying, a student ignored said wishes, figuring she’d rather be aged again than die and hoping that the fact she wasn’t injured when she was first de-aged would mean she wouldn’t be injured if she got re-aged.”

“A fifteen-year-old girl essentially died in that battle!” Someone screeches from far away.

Scrimgeour nods as he considers it all. “I think it is time we move on to the next incident,” Scrimgeour decides, “Thank you for your input, Mr Pettigrew.” Peter nods, returning to Puddifoot’s. Scrimgeour pulls out the Prophet’s list of accusations. “The next incident was in 1991, yes?”

Inimicus nods, “Yes. In 1991, Dumbledore decided to set a trap for Lord Voldemort within the school.” Harry sees Dumbledore wince slightly out of the corner of his eye and has to hold back a completely inappropriate chuckle.

“He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had not yet returned in 1991,” Scrimgeour interrupts.

“Not in a corporeal form, no, but before his death in 1981 Voldemort created several horcruxes. As such his soul, for lack of a better word, survived. He was possessing the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor of that school year.” 

Scrimgeour blinks before looking to Dumbledore who nods. “I see. Continue.”

“Voldemort was present within the school for the entire school year trying to steal the Philosopher’s Stone which Dumbledore had hidden within the school, knowing Voldemort would come after it. We have a Hogwarts Professor willing to corroborate all of this.” Scrimgeour nods so Inimicus looks to Tutamen who goes and fetches McGonagall.

“Professor McGonagall,” Scrimgeour greets. Minerva inclines her head politely. “Would you please tell us your version of these events.”

McGonagall takes a breath, “The first I heard of Albus’ intent to hide the stone within the school was in a staff meeting a few days after school had begun for the year. Albus had a few of the teachers install certain safeguards to prevent anyone from reaching the stone. A few of the students discovered that Voldemort was indeed coming for the stone and attempted to warn us,” She recounts, no longer afraid to speak Voldemort’s name after having spent almost an hour sitting in his company and knowing that, somehow, Inimicus has him corralled. “In the end the students went after him themselves to prevent him from getting the stone after they discovered that Albus had left the school on business.”

“He left the school while all this was happening?” Scrimgeour can’t help but exclaim, sending a displeased look to the man in question.

“Yes, Minister.”

“Was anyone injured?”

Minerva nods, “Two of the students were hurt and the Professor who had been possessed died. Voldemort escaped. Though, he did fail to get the stone.”

“Do you deny any of this?” Scrimgeour asks Dumbledore who shakes his head.

“I do not.”

“Thank you, Professor McGonagall,” The Minister tells her, she nods, leaving the stage, sending an apologetic look to Dumbledore who smiles in a forgiving way. She breathes easier after that, sitting within the café once more.

“The final incident, 1994. I assume this refers to the Tri Wizard Tournament, the inclusion of an underage wizard, the death of Cedric Diggory, and the fact that it was all a set-up by a disguised Death Eater in a successful bid to resurrect You-Know-Who?”

“It does,” Inimicus confirms.

“Yes, well, I think we all know what happened there.”

“And we’re still mad about it!” Hermione shouts from where all the students are sat. Harry holds back the chuckle at that as well.

“With all due respect, Minister, the published articles referring to the incident left out one particular detail. And that’s that the underage student in question was unwillingly entered but forced to participate.” Scrimgeour looks to Dumbledore.

“That is all true,” Albus admits, beginning to resign himself to the fact that this might not go his way.

“All right, well, he’s admitted that,” Scrimgeour says, rubbing at his forehead as he shakes his head. “I believe the next accusation was about placing and leaving a child in an abusive household with full knowledge of said abuse?”

“On the night of the 31st of October 1981, while everyone celebrated Voldemort’s defeat, Dumbledore placed Harry Potter with his Aunt-in-law and her husband. While at the time he did not know this Uncle would abuse Potter, he had someone living on the street and watching over him. She reported the abuse to him several times, but he insisted Potter was safest there and would not move him, despite multiple family members being available to take custody.”

“Do you have this person who reported the abuse?” Scrimgeour asks.

“We do indeed,” Inimicus replies, nodding to Tutamen who goes and retrieves Arabella Figg from the café.

“Your name, for the record, if you please, ma’am,” Scrimgeour requests.

“Arabella Figg, Minister,” She replies.

“And what is your involvement in all this.”

“I helped Headmaster Dumbledore in the first war against You-Know-Who, and once it was over, I moved to Surrey on request of Dumbledore so that I could watch over young Harry.”

“And you witnessed this supposed abuse?” Scrimgeour asks.

Arabella nods, “Poor boy was beaten and starved. They used to leave him with me anytime they would take their Son out to do anything fun, they didn’t want to be seen with Harry, didn’t want him to enjoy himself. Constantly had him slaving away in the Garden. Didn’t get him glasses until he was eight, though the school had told them he wasn’t learning to read proper because he couldn’t see.”

“You told all of this to Dumbledore?” Scrimgeour asks.

“I did, told him about all the times I tried to get him better and feed him when I was babysitting. He believed me, I’m sure of that, but he seemed to think Harry was safe there.”

Scrimgeour looks to Dumbledore.

“I believe what I said was ‘safer’,” Albus corrects, “Harry was under the blood protection of Lily Potter from when she sacrificed herself. Knowing that Voldemort was still out there in some form, I felt he posed a greater threat to Harry than the Dursleys did.”

“Harry’s not even related to Lily Potter!” A student shouts.

Scrimgeour turns to Dumbledore again, “How could he be under a blood protection if they were not related?”

“I…performed a blood adoption after the incident occurred so that the protection would take effect.”

“Y-You what?” Inimicus questions disbelievingly. “Just when you think you’ve uncovered everything,” He mutters irately.

“Yes, I’m beginning to share in that feeling, and having witnessed Mr Potter’s memory of Godric’s Hollow, I can confirm that no blood protection would have taken place because Lily Potter did _not_ protect Mr Potter that night,” Scrimgeour reveals to everyone. Dumbledore looks surprised by that, genuinely surprised. “That boy suffered years of abuse for no reason.”

“I’m curious why you cared to protect him from Voldemort in that respect only to lure Voldemort to Hogwarts in Potter’s first year anyway,” Inimicus comments, though he doesn’t appear to be addressing anyone, just wondering it aloud to himself.

“Thank you, Miss Figg,” Scrimgeour says to her, indicating for her to return to the café. Inimicus helps her off the stage before Tutamen takes her arm to escort her back. “Dumbledore kidnapping a child.”

“I had the mother’s permission to remove the child from her God-Father’s care,” Dumbledore immediately interrupts.

“Which you gained afterwards, you still had a man knocked unconscious to take said child from his arms, and you threatened the mother, which, I’ll get to later!” Inimicus shoots back. Dumbledore sits back quietly.

“Please bring forth your proof,” Scrimgeour requests of Inimicus who looks to Tutamen. Tutamen looks awkwardly back to the café, relieved to find Draco has returned, but shocked to find Jamie with him. “Please state your name,” Scrimgeour requests.

Inimicus stares in shock as Jamie climbs up onto the stage. Considering how they parted, he can’t imagine why she agreed to help. He also doesn’t know why Remus isn’t doing this but he assumes it has something to do with why Peter came up at an unexpected time as well.

“Jamie Lupin, Minister.”

“And what’s your role in all of this?” He asks.

“My Father was the kidnapped child’s God-Father, and I was present for the assault and Dumbledore taking the child. I was young at the time, I cannot consciously recall the incident with any clarity, but the memory is there.”

Scrimgeour nods, “I see, and you are willing to show us your memory of this?”

Jamie nods back, “I am.” Inimicus hands her the pensieve. She draws the memory out, placing it in the pensieve and sticking her head in.

_“Pete?” Jamie hears her Daddy call._

_“Uncle Wormy!” Jamie calls out when he doesn’t answer. Her Daddy suddenly pulls her behind him, Jamie knows this means there’s danger about._

_“He’s not here Remus.” Jamie sees Albus sitting there, she knows him and she knows her Daddy doesn’t like him. Daddy pulls her closer and she sees him holding Hermione close too._

_“What happened? Where is he?” Daddy asks, Jamie cuddling his leg, becoming scared that maybe something bad happened to Uncle Wormy like it did to her Daddy ages ago._

_“Sirius killed him, and twelve Muggles.”_

_“What the devil are you talking about Old Man?!”_

_“He was the spy.”_

_“YOU’RE LYING!”_

_“I WISH I WERE!” Jamie doesn’t know what any of this means, but it sounds bad, and Uncle Padfoot doesn’t do bad things so it can’t have been him. “It had to be him, he was the secret keeper,” Albus tells her Daddy._

_“James, Lily…”_

_“I’m so sorry Remus, they’re dead.”_

_“Harry?!” Her Daddy asks desperately._

_Albus sighs, “He’s alive. It might interest you to know that last night we also lost Miss Meadowes and Mr Fenwick.”_

_Jamie watches as her Daddy falls to his knees and wonders if Albus is someone she’s supposed to go to when Daddy starts getting scared coz he looks like this before he gets scared sometimes. Except it’s different, because he doesn’t look scared. Her Daddy looks sad. “How could…there must be a mistake, Sirius would never!”_

_“I know you cared for him Remus, but you knew this was a possibility.”_

_“They made Severus Harry’s God-Father,” Daddy explains, “He’ll look after him until Del’s out.”_

_“Out of where?”_

_Jamie looks around for Uncle Wormy again when her Daddy starts sobs slightly. “Gaol, it’s complicated.”_

_“Complicated or not, Harry’s already going to a safe place.”_

_“What are you talking about?”_

_“Lily’s put a spell of protection on him, it will only work so long as he’s in close proximity to her blood relatives.”_

_“You-You can’t mean Petunia…Sir, that giant ham of a man she’s married to will make life hell for him!”_

_“I don’t have a choice Remus.”_

_“Del’s his mother!”_

_“And I’m sure she will want him to be safe, no matter what.” Jamie turns back, finally concluding that Uncle Wormy isn’t here. She’s never seen her Daddy look like this before, it’s like sad pain. She doesn’t like it. “Tom is dead.”_

_“WHAT?!” Jamie startles slightly when her Daddy suddenly shouts._

_“The war is over Remus, we won,” He tells him._

_“No Old Man, you won.”_

_“I didn’t want this Remus!”_

_“YOU CONTROL EVERYTHING ELSE, IF YOU TRIED THEY’D STILL BE ALIVE!”_

_“THEY PUT THEIR FAITH IN THE WRONG PERSON!” The two men look at each other, breathing heavily before Albus takes a breath to calm himself, “If it were anyone else I’d admit none of this, but you have a low opinion of me anyway. I made a mistake a long time ago Remus and my sister died because of it,” He says, Jamie sees movement behind her Daddy and turns, seeing a pirate. He’s got one eye and a bad leg and everything! Only she doesn’t think her Daddy will find it very cool at the moment. “Every decision I have made since has been to protect people so that no one else has to deal with that, and I know I failed here, I failed them. But the rest of the wizarding world is safe again, for now. We both know Voldemort is not a man but some non-human spiritous apparition, he will be back and when he returns, his Son is the first person he will go after.”_

_“But Harry isn’t his son, he’s Tom’s.”_

_“Yes, but we’ve seen before, parts of Roana within Tom. Something of the host remains and, given the obsession with which he searched for Harry, if it will be anything, it will be that. He’ll be after Hermione as well.”_

_“I’m her God-Father, I can protect her,” Daddy growls, Albus raises an eyebrow, Jamie looks between them both in fright, holding onto her father’s leg tightly._

_“Like you protected the others?” Albus shakes his head, “No, it’s clear she isn’t safe here. I failed to protect the others, I will not fail her too. I’m sorry Remus, truly, I am. But I’m doing this for the greater good.”_

_Daddy looks afraid, “Doing what?”_

_Jamie sees the pirate move forward. “Stupefy!” The pirate casts and Daddy falls to the ground._

_“DADDY!” Jamie screams. Albus moves forward to pick up Hermione, but Jamie grabs at his arm. “NO YOU CAN’T TAKE HER! DADDY’S S’POSED TO LOOK AFTER HER! YOU CAN’T TAKE ‘MIONE!”_

_Albus holds Jamie back with one arm as he picks up the baby just as Hermione starts crying. “Thank you for your help, Alastor.”_

_The pirate looks at Albus with a frown, “I’m still not sure this was the right thing to do.”_

_“Neither am I,” Albus replies. “Come, Remus will wake soon, Jamie will be fine,” He says, looking at the child who has abandoned attacking him and started hitting her Father’s face in an effort to wake him up._

_The two leave, Hermione crying all the way._

Jamie comes out of the memory, gripping the edges of the pensieve tight. She forces herself to let go and step back from it.

“Thank you, Miss Lupin,” Scrimgeour tells her. Jamie nods to him, glaring at Dumbledore as she leaves the stage.

She walks into the café, she hadn’t had a chance to go there after arriving because she’d been called up immediately. Remus instantly pulls her into a hug.

“Are you okay, Baby Girl?” Remus asks. 

Jamie nods, though tears stream down her face. “I tried to stop him,” She says, “I didn’t remember that before. H-He just took her anyway.”

“It’s not your fault, Jamie,” Remus assures her, hugging her close.

“Dumbledore forcing a child to ingest a substance to which she is allergic?” Scrimgeour asks Inimicus, a resigned tone to his voice.

Amans has already lead Dannie to the stage, her parents waiting at the base of it.

“And what’s your name?” Scrimgeour asks, trying to be more delicate than he had been to the other witnesses in deference to her age. He notices Dumbledore staring at her in abject shock.

“Danielle Smigin, Minister, Sir,” Dannie replies.

Scrimgeour blinks in shock, “A-Aren’t you dead?”

“Inimicus helped fake my death so my parents and I could get away. Even if we just accepted my expulsion, my parents weren’t confident enough in Headmaster Dumbledore’s promise to leave us alone after that.”

Dumbledore looks to Inimicus, “Bit extreme, isn’t it?”

“And what you did wasn’t?” Inimicus replies. Dumbledore nods his assent to that.

“What is it that Dumbledore had you ingesting?”

Dannie takes a deep breath, looking to her parents who nod for her to continue. “Wolfsbane, Sir. I’m allergic to Newt’s Eye, it’s one of the main ingredients.”

There’s a shocked silence throughout the town. “You’re a werewolf?”

“Yes. Headmaster Dumbledore said I could attend Hogwarts only if I were taking Wolfsbane. He wouldn’t relent on that even when we discovered I was allergic. It…I mean we could understand why, if not for the fact that he knew there was another way to control the wolf,” Dannie explains, looking troubled by that.

“What other way?” Scrimgeour asks in shock as Dumbledore rubs at his forehead.

“It’s all in this book,” Dannie explains, holding up the book Remus and Severus had published of all the group’s research. “There’s a way to meld the wolf’s mind with mine. We’d started doing it and Dumbledore had seen that the wolf was docile during the full. It wasn’t until after we ran from here that it finished. Inimicus sent Remus Lupin to help me. Now I’m fine on the full, my parents can be around me, anyone can be around me. I’ve never attacked or hurt anyone.”

“You knew this was possible?” Scrimgeour asks Albus.

“I knew it was theoretically possible, I’d never heard of a case of it truly working. The wolf I knew was still quite volatile,” Albus explains.

“Yes, because it had been repeatedly tortured by Death Eaters,” Moody can’t help but point out, “That’s like suggesting all humans must be paranoid because _I_ am.”

“The wolf turned out to be a spy who had betrayed us,” Albus reminds Moody.

“Already showing free will and intelligent thought,” Inimicus points out, “And you did not know that at the time either way. All you knew was that Auror Moody had confirmed the wolf was intelligent and could be reasoned with.”

“How do you know these things?” Alastor can’t help but ask.

“Because people trust me,” Inimicus replies, “Quite frankly, many of them trust me more than they trust him,” he says, gesturing to Dumbledore.

“Thank you, Miss Smigin,” Scrimgeour tells Dannie who nods and quickly gets off the stage, taking her parents hands.

“Thank you,” Dannie’s Father says to Inimicus who nods as Amans leads them back to the café.

“Lengthened imprisonment with no further crime committed,” Scrimgeour prompts.

Inimicus nods, “Yes, I’ll remind you of the kidnapped child. In Jamie Lupin’s memory, Remus Lupin explains that the infant’s mother is in Gaol. Her original sentence was only a year long. But, while she behaved well and followed all the rules, her sentence was suddenly a life-time. Dumbledore made it so.”

“Why would he do that?” Scrimgeour asks.

“Why don’t we ask her?” Inimicus asks, Amans already leading Del over.

“And you are?” Scrimgeour questions as pleasantly as possible under the circumstances.

“Delilah Black, Minister,” Del answers.

“And what Inimicus claims, this is true?” Del nods. “Please, tell us what happened.”

“I had been at a café with my daughter, Jamie Lupin, and two of Hermione’s Godfathers. I was arrested for causing a disturbance when I got into a heated argument with the café owner about whether or not another customer should be made to leave just for breastfeeding. Remus and Severus went to get my brother, James Potter, but he was already dead. While they were gone, Dumbledore came to see me. He told me that my brother and sister-in-law were dead, that my Husband had been arrested for murder, and that he’d hidden my children away in the Muggle world. I asked him what in the hell he thought he was doing, and he told me that Voldemort wasn’t gone. That he’d be back, and, in all likelihood, he’d come after my kids. He said if I was released, the kids would be returned to me, and that’s why I had to stay imprisoned. He came to see me many times over the years, always assuring me that the kids were fine, were _safe_ , and that they would only remain that way if I stayed in prison. I was in there for fifteen years before my kids, among others, had been taken hostage by Death Eaters, this happened a few months ago. Dumbledore came and told me, said I should join the rescue mission, and suddenly my sentence was rescinded, and I was released.”

Moody looks at Dumbledore in disbelief. Evidently, he hadn’t known that bit.

“Ms Black, did you not hide your children from their fathers in an attempt to protect them from Voldemort’s ire as well?” Dumbledore asks her.

Del nods, “Yes, I did. But they truly _were_ safe when they were with me. You told me they were okay, but they weren’t, were they?”

Dumbledore shakes his head, “I knew Harry was not. I knew nothing of Hermione until earlier this year.”

Scrimgeour nods, “Thank you, Ms Black.”

Del nods, leaving the stage and returning to the café.

Scrimgeour sits silently in thought for a moment. Everyone waits. He lets out a breath before he pulls out the Prophet list again. He freezes for a moment, then pinches the bridge of his nose. Finally he sits up again. “The accusation that Dumbledore helped Gellert Grindelwald during his first attempts to overthrow the Ministry.”

“That is not entirely accurate!” Dumbledore protests. He looks at Inimicus who nods for him to continue. “We had no intention to overthrow the Ministry. We planned a revolution but it was to be handled as peacefully as possible. It wasn’t until after our partnership broke down that his twisted side revealed itself.”

“And what was it this revolution was supposed to do?” Scrimgeour asks.

Dumbledore sighs, “To end the International Statute of Secrecy,” He admits. There’s an uproar in the crowd. Inimicus raises a hand, requesting silence. “I have since then come to realise the importance of it, and seeing as we never went through with the plan, I committed no crime.”

“Perhaps not a crime with this plan but attempting to create global hierarchical order led by wise and powerful witches and wizards that dominated Muggles is perhaps not the most stable plan?” Inimicus points out, “Besides, I’m not accusing you of committing a crime in your attempts to aid him. But am I wrong that it was those attempts that lead to the final accusation?”

Albus looks to his hands, pain in his eyes as he shakes his head, “No, you are not wrong.”

“That final accusation, is that you murdered Ariana Dumbledore, your fourteen-year-old sister, while you, Grindelwald, and your brother Aberforth were engaged in a duel. Aberforth was attempting to stop you from going through with your plan, and it got violent, is that correct?” Inimicus challenges Dumbledore.

“For the most part. There was a duel and Ariana died, I have never been sure which of us killed her,” Albus explains regretfully.

“Then perhaps I can fill in that gap for you. You see, you killed Ariana, she died, but as I’m sure you are aware, in life her magic was powerful but unstable. Betrayed, as she had been, that anger allowed her spirit to manifest, and as the years went she gained power until finally she possessed a man in an attempt to kill you. That man came to be known as Lord Voldemort. Not a Dark Wizard, not willingly. A spirit who had stewed in anger for so long she had lost her mind almost entirely.”

“That is _quite_ the claim,” Dumbledore tells him, the first show of anger they had seen all day.

“I do not make it blindly,” Inimicus replies. “You want proof? Perhaps it is time you heard it from her.”

Confusion is clear throughout the gathered audience, and those on stage. Tonks and Amans escort Voldemort onto the stage, staying by his side as guards on stage.

“Holy fuck!” Someone from the crowd shouts.

“I promise you all now, he has taken the unbreakable vow. Until he has finished speaking in this, he cannot bring harm to anyone,” Inimicus assures them all.

“Is it true?” Mad-Eye asks Voldemort when Scrimgeour does nothing more than stare in shock.

Voldemort’s red eyes change to an ethereal blue. He looks to Dumbledore, rage on his face. “Hello, brother,” dual voices say, one quite clearly a woman’s.

Dumbledore stares in horror as tears fill his eyes. “Ariana.”

“Not anymore. She died a long time ago. So desperate to be free, to be with _him_ , you didn’t care,” Voldemort snarls.

“Guilty, I plead guilty,” Dumbledore tells the Minister, wanting this to stop, wanting her to stop speaking words he cannot bear to hear.

“Don’t want to face me, Albie?” Voldemort asks.

Dumbledore closes his eyes, a hand at his mouth as Inimicus nods for Voldemort to be escorted off the stage.

“Erm, if he’s finished testifying, does that mean he can hurt people again?” Barnabus’ photographer asks. Just as he speaks, they hear screams as Voldemort opens his mouth, black smoke exiting the body in a column. Once all gone, the body drops to the ground, disintegrating into ash. Tutamen jumps onto the stage, pulling out what seems to be a misty marble. He holds it up, muttering an incantation.

“Et tolle tibi libertate.” The smoke is drawn into the marble, blackening it until it is full.

“Guess we don’t need the final testimony after all,” Inimicus comments, looking at Dumbledore. Inimicus walks closer to him, “You know, I never doubted that your intentions were to help. My doubt lays in whether your judgement could be trusted any longer, considering how much power and sway you hold in this world. Your students are tired of living in fear of what catastrophe will hit the school next.” Inimicus turns back to the crowd. “That giant box behind me sorts things. There are stacks of small slips all around, he has plead guilty, but this was always supposed to be up to all of you. Once you have written either guilty or not guilty, it will be entered into the box and sorted into those two piles. We shall see soon enough.”

There’s a flurry of activity and soon thousands of pieces of paper are flying over head into the box behind them. It’s twenty minutes later before papers stop flying. The witnesses all come out to join the crowd and hear the results. Inimicus gives it another minute in case of late comers. Then he turns to Moody. “Would you do the honours?”

George climbs the ladder to the top of the box, grabbing a slip from the largest pile, handing it to Moody who grabs and takes it back to the stage. He looks at it, nodding sagely. Inimicus nods for him to make the announcement.

“Guilty.”


	45. Case Closed

Chapter 44 – Case Closed

Note: Chapter Title from Little Mix’s song ‘Case Closed’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_“Would you do the honours?”_

_George climbs the ladder to the top of the box, grabbing a slip from the largest pile, handing it to Moody who grabs and takes it back to the stage. He looks at it, nodding sagely. Inimicus nods for him to make the announcement._

_“Guilty.”_

Now,

Scrimgeour clears his throat, “The only reasonable punishment for all of this –” He says, holding up the Prophet list of crimes, “– is death.” Sirius looks to Remus expectantly, noticing the reapers looking to each other in what Sirius has to assume is concern, masks or no masks.

Inimicus hesitates a moment, looking around. He looks back to Draco who nods at him. He sighs, “There’s been enough death, Minister,” He declares, already regretting it, “We’ve just tried a man with little regard for preserving life. Let’s not make the same mistake ourselves. There are other ways.”

“What would you suggest?” Mad-Eye asks him.

“Bind his magic, exile him to the Muggle world. Let him live out his life in a place and situation where he cannot cause more of this harm,” Inimicus suggests.

“I thought your goal was to kill him,” Scrimgeour admits.

“I wanted him dealt with.” Which isn’t a _lie_ exactly.

Scrimgeour looks to Moody who nods. He turns back to Dumbledore who stands, and hands over his wand without prompting.

“You had a good run, Albus. And you _did_ do good,” Scrimgeour tells him.

Albus smiles, “The life of a Muggle is not so bad, Rufus. I will be fine.”

“I, with the power the Ministry and the wizards of Great Britain have bestowed upon me, declare you unfit to live in our world. I hereby bind your magic,” Scrimgeour announces, pressing his wand to Albus’ chest, “And banish you from the wizarding world. Should you attempt to enter it again, or to have your magic unbinded, you will be obliviated and returned to the Muggle world that is now your home.”

“Tonks,” Moody calls, nodding to Dumbledore. Tonks nods, walking forward and guiding him by the elbow off the stage. Kingsley meets her at the base of it. They take an elbow each, apparating him away.

Inimicus takes a deep breath. He’s done it. They’re free.

“So we’re just going to ignore that all of this happened right under the noses of the Ministry?” Someone calls, several shouts sound, agreeing with the first. It starts getting truly rowdy in mere moments and suddenly Harry is concerned about a riot. He steps forth, holding a hand up to silence them.

“They’re right,” Scrimgeour says before Inimicus has a chance to speak. “Change must occur.”

“Not by the same people who put us in this position to begin with!” Someone yells.

“Resign!” Someone else yells.

“Well, this I was not expecting,” Inimicus states. He’d been expecting turmoil, not an immediate revolt.

Scrimgeour pinches the bridge of his nose. He stands, facing the crowd. “If there is no Minister, how do you expect to make these changes?” He asks them.

“Without you!”

Inimicus looks to Mad-Eye who smirks. “You set them off, you solve it.”

Inimicus huffs at him before he turns back to the crowd. He gestures for silence again. “This world is fractured. It has been for a long time. The Ministry, Dumbledore’s followers, and Voldemort’s. I say we bring a representative from each to a table. Have them draw up a system that meets everyone’s needs as best it can,” Inimicus suggests.

“You want to give Death Eater’s a voice?!” Someone screams in shock.

“If it means we live in a world where people are heard, and everyone’s got enough of what they want that we don’t end up in another war? Yes, yes I do want to.”

“It would have to be held in a neutral location,” Scrimgeour points out.

“How are we supposed to trust their decisions are really fair and one or more aren’t pressured with threats of death?!”

“We’ll have Aurors watch over proceedings,” Scrimgeour suggests.

“No!” A woman shouts, standing on…something, a table maybe? Inimicus can’t see because of how thick the crowd is. Though magic is a thing so maybe she’s got someone levitating her. “The only person who has cared about hearing everyone equally is _him_ ,” She says, pointing to Inimicus. “I say we accept no treaty between us if it isn’t overseen by him!”

There’s shouts of agreement and support throughout the whole town.

“Was not expecting that either,” Inimicus says. He looks to the Minister who nods. He nods back, “Very well, I will do so.”

“So much for not being needed after this,” Scrimgeour tells him with a smirk.

“Erm, if I may?” McGonagall’s voice sounds from beside the stage. Scrimgeour and Inimicus look over. “The kids will need to be sent home for a week while we sort everything out at the school now that…well, some changes in staff will be required. You could use Hogwarts as a neutral location. Without Albus there, the castle has no specific loyalty. The sooner this all gets done, the better.”

“The kids have stated before that within Hogwarts, they all decided long ago to leave outside allegiances at platform 9 ¾,” Someone says. Inimicus looks over, surprised to see Wanda Parkinson there.

“Then, these separate parties shall choose a representative, and meet at the castle tomorrow morning.”

“Wait! Who are you?” Someone asks of Inimicus.

“As long as I am supposed to be acting as an overseer and neutral party, I think that is best kept secret,” Inimicus replies. Everyone accepts that, for now.

Inimicus leaves the stage, going over to his witnesses. “Thank you, all of you, for your help.” He looks to Jamie, nodding to her.

Jamie shrugs, “A girl can change her mind. It helped to know you _didn’t_ kill my sister’s best friend,” She tells him, nodding to Dannie who smiles sheepishly, shifting on her feet. “Does Benni know she’s alive?”

“Yes, she does,” Inimicus tells her.

“You did good,” Jamie tells him, “Keep doing good, and we’ll have your back all the way.”

“I don’t intend to stick around for long. I’ll keep this up –” He tells them, gesturing to his outfit, “– long enough to ensure everything is stable and I haven’t broken anything. Then I have to step back. Else I risk becoming just like the man I worked so hard to dethrone.”

“He wasn’t all bad,” Del comments, remembering how the man helped integrate her into the school after her coma. “We just need someone better at the helm.” Everyone around agrees with that sentiment.

Eventually they all break off, students returning home on the train that night.

The moment Harry gets back to Potter Mansion, he goes to grab Delphini, holding her as tight as he can.

After Tom was saved, he wondered if he should be the one raising her. But when it comes down to it, Tom was never her Father, that was Voldemort. Bellatrix trusted Harry to raise Delphini, so that’s what he’s going to do.

“This world will be better, just as I promised,” He tells her. He boops her nose, she giggles at him.

Harry hears the floo activate and pulls out his wand, but it’s only Sirius.

“Hey! Thought I might find you here,” Sirius greets warmly, walking over to hug his son and grand-daughter.

“I missed her so much,” Harry tells him truthfully.

“I realised something today,” Sirius reveals. Harry looks at him questioningly. “Once this treaty has been signed, Delphi can meet the family.”

Harry smiles, nodding, “Yeah, she can.” Harry looks at Delphi, then back to Sirius. “So, if Father’s going to be Grandpa, I was _thinking_ , you could be Grandpads.”

Sirius laughs at that, “Grandpads, oh, I love it. Remus’ll get a kick out of that.” The laughter leaves his face instantly.

“Something wrong with you and Uncle…did you ever pick a new nickname?” Harry asks.

“No I didn’t, at the moment I’m calling him arsehole.”

“Asssss-hoooole,” Delphini says. Harry and Sirius look to the kid, and then to each other.

“You know what, Remus is probably going to say 50 different swear words within five minutes of meeting her, at that point we can blame him for it,” Harry suggests, Sirius nods his agreement. “What’s going on with you two?”

“Turns out he was siding with Inimicus since before he was even known by most people,” Sirius sighs, “I blindly trusted him twenty years ago when he said he wasn’t the spy. And I can’t help thinking now that I shouldn’t have. What if I was wrong to do so, what if I put you at risk?”

“He did what he thought was best,” Harry points out.

“So did Dumbledore,” Sirius retorts.

Harry snickers, “Maybe don’t make that comparison around him.” Sirius laughs his agreement with that. “He hid Rema, Peter, and Bridget from you, you were fine with that.”

“He was protecting an innocent kid,” Sirius reminds him.

“Ever think maybe he was trying to protect someone this time as well? I don’t know if you’ve noticed but a lot of people in Hogwarts mean a lot to him. Seems unlikely that _none_ of them were involved.”

Sirius smiles at him, “When did you get wise? I seem to remember a temperamental teenager.”

Harry smiles back, “Well, you know, fatherhood,” Harry comments, looking to Delphini. Then he sighs, “Also…I mean…well it helps. To have all of you around, and stuff.”

“We love you too, Harry. All of us,” Sirius tells him, wrapping he and Delphi into a hug. Harry relaxes into the hold, glad that Sirius can understand him even when he can’t…say it. “I’d better get back, they’re picking who’s going to represent us.”

“Good luck with that,” Harry tells him, “Oh but uh,” Harry winces, “Could you ask Draco to come around here at some point?”

Sirius nods with an amused smile and heads back to the Fortress.

“Hey, Harry okay?” Del asks him.

Sirius nods, “Doesn’t want to come back until the treaty has been signed and everything is truly dealt with. But he’s okay.” Sirius turns to Draco. “Actually, Harry was wondering if you’d care to stop by at –” Draco all but runs out of the room and through the floo. “– some point.” Sirius nods, the kids snickering.

“Right, kids, upstairs,” Molly directs. They huff and whinge but leave pretty quickly with Sirius calls a win.

“No one who was involved today should be the one to go,” Tonks tells the others, getting agreement.

“What about Severus?” Mary suggests, “He’s good with this shit.”

“This shit being writing up how our world is run?” Severus asks.

“Yeah, that.”

Severus sighs, cringing before shaking his head, “So, I’ve sort of been working for Inimicus for a few months.”

Sirius glares at Remus who notices and clears his throat, “Me too.”

“And me,” George admits.

Everyone stares at them. “Yeah so none of them are going,” Bill declares.

“I believe it should be someone who fought in both wars,” Fleur suggests, met with agreement.

“Which leaves, Mum, Dad, Sirius, Mary, Elphias, Sturgis, and Hagrid,” George tells them, looking around the room. “Well, that’s working on the assumption that McGonagall is busy. Oh, and Kinglsey, he fought last time too, didn’t he?”

“Yes, but he’s overseeing everything with Dumbledore,” Moody informs them.

“I don’t believe I’ve been around long enough either time to actually represent us,” Mary decides.

“I wouldn’t know what’a do,” Hagrid admits regretfully.

“I work for the Ministry, it’s best it’s not me,” Arthur points out, others nodding to that.

Sturgis looks over everyone in contemplation, “I think Sirius should do it.”

“What? Why me?” Sirius asks, voice filled with confusion.

“Tender-heart,” Sturgis replies, “You care. That’s important. And you know enough about how things work to make this happen right.”

“He’s right,” Molly agrees, nodding and smiling encouragingly.

Peter snickers, “Spent your whole life disobeying the rules and now you get to help write them.”

“Oh, if my younger self could see me now,” Sirius jokes, sort of unable to believe he’s doing so with Peter.

“I think he’d be more offended by the suit than anything,” Mary tells them,

Sirius chuckles and nods. Then he sighs, “All right, I’ll do it.” Everyone nods their agreement. 

Molly goes to the bottom of the stairs, “You can come back now!” She calls up them.

“So, why would your younger self have been offended by a suit?” Fleur asks Sirius as the kids descend.

“Oh, little Sirius was _far_ too punk for that,” Mary tells her.

“Yes, I never _did_ get to finish questioning Tom about that?” Ginny asks, suddenly at Sirius’ side.

Sirius looks at her in confusion. “How did you _do_ that?” Sirius asks.

“Words like that, she’s already there,” Remus tells him though he doesn’t look over. “Excuse me,” he says, getting up and leaving the room.

“…Soooo, how long are you going to be angry at him for?” Peter asks.

Sirius sighs, rubbing at his forehead, “I haven’t decided yet.”

“Y-You guys aren’t splitting up, are you?” Hermione asks in a small voice. Sirius looks over to see a fearful look on her face.

He walks over, hugging her. “Hermione, no matter what happens between Remus and I, it’s never going to change how much we care about you,” He tells her. He pulls back to look her in the eye. “You are my daughter and I love you, and no amount of Remus being a stupid asshat is going to change that in any way.” Hermione nods, wiping at her eyes a bit. “But no, I don’t think we’re splitting up.”

“You gonna tell him that?” Mary asks, “Coz he might be doing well lately but he’s still Remy, and nobody gets angrier at him than he does at himself.”

“I know, I just can’t right now,” Sirius tells her, “Not tonight.” 

Severus’ phone lets out a ‘bleup’ noise. He opens it to read a text message. “Yeah, I’m gonna go sit with him. Peter, I’m nicking your Fiancée,” Severus announces. Bridget immediately getting up from her seat, sitting Rema in Benni’s lap earning a blinding smile from the girl, and following after Severus.

“Well then, I guess tomorrow, the Wizarding World starts being remade,” Tom comments, everyone looking around nervously.

Sirius arrives at Hogwarts the next morning, quite nervous about what is to come. By the entrance, he finds Percy Weasley from the Ministry, and Wanda Parkinson from the Death Eaters.

Minerva meets the three at the door, nodding to each.

“He’s already inside,” Minerva tells them, “The staff are in the staffroom while we sort things out so we’ve set up the Great Hall for you.”

“Have they made you Headmistress yet?” Sirius asks her.

McGonagall scowls at him, but then nods, a proud look in her eye. “Right then, if you’ll follow me.” Minerva leads them into the Great Hall where they find Inimicus sat at a round table in the centre of the room, the usual tables and benches pushed up against the wall. Inimicus looks at all the attendants, now more than a little concerned that he’ll accidentally give himself away with Sirius or Percy, though he is very glad to see the latter again. It’s been a long time.

“Well then, shall we get started?” Inimicus asks.

They all take their seats, McGonagall returning to her staff.

They start with the obvious stuff, yes Muggle-borns can attend Hogwarts. Stuff gets heated until Sirius puts forth the suggestion Hermione had given earlier in the year. Severus had mentioned it when the Order went over things they definitely want included.

It takes a while, but eventually Wanda agrees to that, and so it is written.

It’s Percy that mentions Dark Creatures. Wanda immediately wanting the same rights for them as for humans which shocks Sirius until he remembers that, while he doesn’t think they’ve ever been friends, she is in the group of people who have been close with Remus for a very long time even knowing about his condition. Sirius seconds the suggestions. Percy is nervous about it, not because he dislikes the people but because there is obviously a danger.

“Didn’t you hear the kid yesterday?” Sirius asks him, “There’s a way to make the wolf safe!”

“Dumbledore himself said he’d never seen it succeed,” Percy points out.

“Yes, he was also banished and stripped of his magic yesterday, Mr Weasley,” Wanda reminds him, “There is no middle ground here. I understand your trepidation but at the end of the day there are two options, either they have equal rights or they don’t.”

“Not to be a dick, but there’s also the consideration that just because there is a _way_ to merge the wolf and the human, doesn’t mean all werewolves will put in the effort to make it happen when locking themselves away on the full might seem easier,” Sirius points out unhappily as it occurs to him.

Percy rubs at his forehead, “What if we made it law that they do so.”

“That’s toeing a thin line, wouldn’t you say?” Wanda tells them.

Percy turns to Inimicus. “I know you are here as an observer, but you don’t happen to have any ideas, do you?”

“Benni Lupin,” Inimicus replies simply. Which is confusing until Sirius’ eyes widen.

“Benni has detailed plans about a sanctuary for Werewolves. A place where they can go during the full moon if their wolf isn’t managed. But it would also have space for their children to stay overnight if necessary, medical help for them, and people who can educate them and their families on how to merge the wolf safely,” Sirius remembers, nodding enthusiastically.

“We don’t have people trained for that sort of thing,” Percy points out.

Wanda shakes her head, “We do, actually. A lot of healers have the training for the medical side of things. That book, the one the kid showed yesterday, it had to be written by someone. And given that Remus Lupin was the one helping the child, I would wager there’s a few people who know more about it all than we think,” She says looking at Sirius.

“Obviously we’d need to train others, but there’s enough to start this,” Sirius tells Percy, “But only if we all agree.”

Percy thinks about this for a moment before nodding slowly. “I want to see the plans for it, but if it works as you have described, I agree.”

Sirius sends a patronus to Remus, asking him to bring Benni in and to get her to bring her plans for the sanctuary.

“We should move on while we wait,” Wanda tells the others, they agree.

“I want to talk about the wars, about why they happened,” Sirius says.

Percy nods, “With You-Know-Who and Dumbledore gone, we shouldn’t have problems anymore, right?”

“Generals don’t make a war, their followers do. The whole reason we’re here representing three factions in our world is because the possibility for more war is still there,” Sirius says, “I don’t think ‘pureblood elitist families’, or ‘Muggle-loving hippies’ are the problem.” Percy and Wanda look at him in confusion, even Inimicus isn’t sure where he’s going with it. “I think it starts here, when we teach kids that difference cannot work together,” He explains, gesturing to the house banners hanging up. “I’ve been speaking to a lot of the children while working here. Some Slytherins feel like they’re living up to familial expectations when they’re sorted, but a lot immediately feel victimised because everyone is looking at them like they’re future Dark Lords. More points get taken from Gryffindor than any other house when points are taken, yeah Gryffindors are reckless but they don’t all act on it. We’re telling our kids not to make snap judgements of people while telling them exactly what the others are like based on their sortings. I mean, it should just be a school competition encouraging good behaviour, but it changes how people deal with you long after you graduate as well.”

“You want to get rid of the houses?” Wanda asks him.

Sirius nods, “I do, yes.”

“The castle is set up to have students housed in four different places. Even if we did agree to this, how would you separate them without creating that divide still?”

“That I don’t know,” Sirius admits.

“Headmistress McGonagall should be present for this bit,” Percy suggests. The others agree, so he sends a Patronus to her asking her to come down when she has a moment.

Mary walks in with Benni, much to Sirius’ surprise. Mary grins, “Minnie had Remus come in, said she needed help, and then informed him that he’s the DADA teacher again and shoved him into his seat in the staff room.”

“Oh, good, I’m free,” Sirius mutters earning a glare from Benni. “Not that I haven’t _loved_ being your teacher –”

“Take her for ice-cream later, Black, we’re busy,” Wanda directs, earning a glare from Sirius and an amused huff from Inimicus.

“Right, Miss Lupin, we’re trying to work out how to safely integrate werewolves into society properly, and we want to hear about your sanctuary,” Percy informs Benni who smiles and walks over to the table, laying out the parchment and notebook that she brought.

“Okay, so, it starts with a book…”

Benni walks them through the whole idea, which had grown since Sirius had last been updated, and the others had never heard it before. Sufficed to say, all are impressed.

“This is amazing work,” Wanda tells her.

Benni blushes slightly, “I’ve been working on it for five years, so.”

“How would you feel about it being implemented?” Percy asks, “You can watch over it, obviously, make sure it’s being done right, so long as it does not interfere with your studies.”

Benni nods, “That would be amazing.”

“You mentioned that there were people knowledgeable enough to get this started,” Wanda reminds Sirius who nods.

“Mary, how would you like a job?” Sirius asks, Mary nods. “Great, ask Pete too. Oh and, can you get in touch with the Polkas, see if they’d be interested in moving back to England for this. Maybe see if Tonks’ parents would be interested in the childcare side of things given that it would only be for a day a month, possible a few days depending on how the wolf in question is feeling after the moon.”

“Shall do!” Mary replies happily.

“I know some healers that have worked with werewolves,” Wanda says, “I’ll get in touch, see if any of them would be interested.”

“What about Professor Randona?” Benni suggests.

“I’ll get in touch with him as well, good one Little Benni,” Mary says, ruffling the kid’s hair. “Right, we’ll go get on this,” She announces, “Good luck with it all.”

“Thank you very much for coming in,” Percy tells them both.

The two leave, passing McGonagall at the door to the Hall. There’s pleasantries exchanged there before they move on.

“What can I help you with?” Minerva asks the group as she walks over.

“We’re discussing how Hogwarts is set up in terms of house groups and the effect they have on society,” Percy explains, “We thought you should be present for it.”

“I appreciate that,” Minerva tells them, taking a seat.

“Right, so, I’ve been half thinking about this since you mentioned it,” Percy tells the others, “If we were to agree that house groups have a detrimental and lasting effect on the students and dissolve them, we still have four separate housing spots. So, in the event we decide that’s for the best, what if they were housed in age groups. So, first and second year in one, third and fourth in another, fifth and sixth in a third, and give seventh years their own area entirely and they can actually get some work done around exam time,” Percy suggests.

“We’d still need to agree that house groups _are_ detrimental and I don’t,” Wanda states.

“Following first term, students this year pushed aside the idea of house groups and tried to learn to get past all that. For one, it should not be so difficult to interact with your peers, but another thing, is that the teachers all noted a distinct decrease in volatile disagreement,” McGonagall informs them.

Wanda frowns at this, thinking through carefully, then she nods, “All right, yes. Let’s do it.”

“We have to do everything we can for a cohesive community in Britain,” Percy agrees, nodding, “It has to start with the children.”

They look to Inimicus who inclines his head in agreement, so they write it up. In truth, Inimicus isn’t sure how he feels about it, but he’s not here to dictate the future of the Wizarding World, only to ensure all parties here are getting a say and are properly in agreement. They thought it through, discussed it, got the information, and made their decision.

They are in day three of these talks, finally signing off on the new procedure for Ministry elections after two gruelling hours of debate.

“Okay, so we agree on that, but I think we can also agree that Scrimgeour’s got to go,” Wanda states, the other two nodding though Percy seems uncomfortable with the fact that he agrees.

“We can’t give this over to the Wizarding World without a leader, that’s too much chaos at once,” Percy points out.

Sirius sighs, “And if we go with these plans for an election, it’ll be a while before there’s a Minister and things will have already fallen apart.”

“So, we pick one to start things off and _then_ put the plan in place,” Wanda suggests, “Someone who will look at things clearly, not be blinded by any side.”

There’s a full minute of silence.

“Anyone got anything?” Sirius asks, the other two shake their heads.

“Inimicus, any ideas?” Wanda questions, seeing as he seems to have a solution to everything.

Inimicus debates this for a moment, kind of sad about Scrimgeour. He’d liked him. Then he answers, “Kingsley Shacklebolt.”

“…He might have sided with Dumbledore but, if we give him this plan he’ll implement it to the letter,” Sirius agrees.

“That’s brilliant,” Percy comments, having worked with the man within the Ministry on several occasions.

Wanda thinks for a moment, then nods, “Very well, offer him the job, bring him in tomorrow.”

They break for the day. Sirius enters the Fortress, glad to find Kingsley at the table, keeping count of points in a chess tournament that seems to include everyone who currently resides here. Sirius plonks himself down in front of him.

“Sirius,” Kingsley greets, voice already full of suspicion.

“King!” Sirius replies cheerily. Everyone looks over in suspicion at that tone of voice. “How would you like to be the new Minister for Magic?” Kingsley stares at him in shock, Sirius nods encouragingly. “Yep, we all agreed on it. Inimicus’ suggestion actually. He hasn’t actively given a suggestion on much but we asked what he thought and two seconds later he just dropped your name. So, want the job?”

Kingsley hesitates a moment more than nods, “I, yes, absolutely.”

A round of congratulations comes from all.

“Great, you have to come with me tomorrow. Good luck,” Sirius says, patting him on the back and leaving the room.

They spend another two days hammering out the details of this, agreeing that the basics of the world are pretty okay except for a few things they’ve changed, and finally all believe they’ve covered everything they need to. Though there was a memorable argument about the set-up of Azkaban that none shall soon forget, but they also agree never to speak about it again once they’d re-jigged that as well.

On the final day, they send a letter to the Ministry, and to the Prophet, that they intend to bring it in the following morning so they can all be witnessed signing it.

“Do we really have to involve the Prophet?” Percy asks Inimicus.

“Do you have something to hide, Mr Weasley?”

“Wha-…no, of course not.”

Inimicus shrugs, “Then what’s the problem?”

The next day, the head into the Ministry, unsurprised to find many members of the public in the Atrium. They stand at the front, Barnabus and his Photographer once more given a place right in front of them.

They read out the new policies, it takes a while, but it’s important. Then they all sign it, Kingsley, Scrimgeour, and Inimicus included. Though the latter simply writes his name. Scrimgeour willingly hands the position of Minister over to Kinglsey though announces his intention to run for it in the next Election. Kingsley shakes his hand proudly.

Finally, the official part is over, everyone instantly looks to Inimicus.

“Not getting out of it this time,” Kingsley tells him.

Inimicus chuckles, nodding. “Once you know, you can’t un-know.”

“Just take off your mask!” Someone calls, sounding amused.

Inimicus hesitates one more time. He sees his Reapers, out of costume, in the crowd. They nod at him. He takes off the mask.

Dead silence fills the Atrium.

“…I just spent five days in a room with my own bloody son and didn’t know it,” Sirius comments.

“Yeah this explains a lot,” Scrimgeour adds.

Harry shrugs, “Someone had to do something.”

Someone in the crowd starts clapping, and then everyone does. Harry smiles. 

And in that moment, Harry realises he was wrong. Because it might be rare, but every now and then, the world is kind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG one more chapter left!


	46. I Was Lightning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last Chapter!

Chapter 45 – I Was Lightning

Note: Chapter Title from Imagine Dragon’s song ‘Thunder’

Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s begin…

Last time,

_Someone in the crowd starts clapping, and then everyone does. Harry smiles._

_And in that moment, Harry realises he was wrong. Because it might be rare, but every now and then, the world is kind._

Now,

Harry hears the floo activating in Potter Mansion, many times.

“Okay, we’re here, what’s the big surprise?” Mary asks as she, Severus, the Lupins, the kids, the Weasleys, the Polkas, the Pettigrews, Tonks, all of Harry’s parents, and Phia move to stand around the living room.

Sirius turns around, holding Delphini.

“You…baby.”

“Now, Remus, we’re in the middle of a fight, the pet names need to take a break,” Sirius tells him in a mocking tone of voice.

Remus huffs, “No, arsehole, I clearly meant _baby_ ,” He says, flinging his hands in Delphini’s direction.

“Asssss-hooooole,” Delphini says.

Harry sighs, “My guess of five minutes was far too generous.”

“Heh, erm, oops,” Remus comments with a wince.

“Right, everyone, this is Delphini Riddle-Potter-Black,” Harry introduces, “She’s my daughter. I didn’t want her to get caught up in the war, so I didn’t tell anyone about her. Figured the daughter of ‘The Boy Who Lived’ probably wasn’t a safe thing to be.”

Silence is in the room until Severus nods, “You’re probably right about that.” Harry had warned Severus what he was going to do and, given that the last thing Lucius ever asked Severus to do what to make sure Delphini is safe, he figured this probably was the best way to do it.

“I’M AN AUNT!” Hermione squeals, running over. “Hi there sweetie, oh my gosh you are so cute. I’m Auntie Mio, oh you are the _cutest_ ,” Hermione declares, taking the baby’s hand and jiggling it causing Delphini to let out a giggle.

“You knew about this?” Del asks Sirius who nods.

“Yeah, I’ve been checking in on her to make sure she’s doing okay. The house-elves have been looking out for her.”

Harry takes a fortifying breath as he looks at Del, “Want to meet your Grandma?” Harry asks Delphini, “Yeah?” He prompts when she stares at him blankly.

“Yeah!” She parrots with enthusiasm. Harry takes Delphini from Sirius and walks over to Del.

Del strokes the baby’s head before she takes her from Harry. “Oh, Auntie Mio’s right, you _are_ cute.”

“How old is she?” Remus asks as everyone takes seats around the place or leans against walls, chairs pulled in from the dining-room.

“Eight months,” Harry replies. The house-elves had made an estimate and Harry had just decided on a birthday to use based on that estimate. According to Severus, Remus had done something similar to Jamie, counting back the months and picking a number from there.

Del looks up, tears in her eyes. “I’m a Grandma,” She states.

“Yes, and I have been christened ‘Grandpads’,” Sirius declares. Remus laughs at that. Sirius looks to Harry. “See? Told you he’d laugh.”

“Uncle Remus would laugh at you for anything,” Harry points out.

Sirius nods, “Yeah, it’s part of why I love him.” With that, Sirius goes over, taking Remus’ hand. Remus seems to just melt in relief at that, the rest of the room being glad too.

Harry hesitates on the next point for a moment before clearing his throat, “I…I was thinking, I mean, well, if you wanted, how would you feel about being Delphi’s God-parents?” Harry asks Molly and Arthur. 

Arthur smiles, Molly’s eyes filling with tears as she nods.

“We’d be honoured, dear.”

“Who’s her moth-” Blaise starts asking, but the rest comes out muffled when Draco’s hand comes over his mouth, pretty much telling the others quite clearly that Harry isn’t going to talk about that.

“Oh _that’s_ why you took forever to make this official,” Pansy realises, looking between Draco and Harry. “We assumed it was Inimicus related, but it was because Dray didn’t know about your kid,” She says. Then nods, “Which is why you asked him to come over that time, you introduced them.”

“Yes, she dribbled on me, but I’m told that’s a sign of affection in infants,” Draco replies. Harry snickers at him.

“Yep, that’s babies,” Peter agrees, then his eyes widen, “Oh, Rema and Delphi, they’re only a few months apart, they’ll grow up together.”

Harry smiles, “Oh yeah, they will!”

Everyone talks, taking turns holding and cooing over the baby. It’s when Harry sits with Delphini on the floor, sitting her in front of him, Bridget and Rema in front of them so that the two babies are sat facing each other, that Jamie moves to sit beside her Dad.

“Hey Dad?” Jamie asks. Remus looks at her questioningly with a smile. “What was Mum like?” She asks. 

Those that hear look over in concern, but Remus smiles, not exactly sadly but there’s a wealth of emotion in his eyes as he takes her hand. “A pain in the ass,” Remus replies. Many snickers from those who knew her are heard throughout the room. “Trixie was headstrong and stubborn, but _so_ damned caring. A lot like you.” Jamie smiles, snuggling into his side. “She loves you, you know.”

Jamie nods, “I know.” Then she snickers, “So, Fred’s been trying to teach Aunt Phia magic.”

“Oh dear God, the _horror!_ ” Remus exclaims dramatically.

“Hey, I haven’t _set anything on fire_!” Phia shoots back. Naturally this turns into yet another sibling argument that has everyone laughing at the two.

“Oh, also, I found something I thought you might like to see,” Benni says when the argument dies down, walking over to the middle of the group. “The set reading list for first year, is it different for Charms than it has been before?”

“No, it’s the same stuff, first year basic charms don’t change much,” Hermione tells her.

“Then I think I know where you knew Merek and Ayleth’s names from,” Benni informs them, opening her charms textbook and pointing to the title page where it says ‘adapted from the ancient works of Merek and Ayleth Slytherin’.

“Huh,” Ron states, “Sort of disappointed you didn’t know that Hermione, I mean aren’t books your _thing_? I mean if it was a chess move, I would’ve known it immediately.”

Hermione throws a cushion at him, “It’s a title page! Not the content of the book!”

By the end of the day, it’s been decided that Del, Tom, and Sirius are going to move into Potter Mansion, their various children and Remus will as well, of course, but they still have to finish their year in Hogwarts first.

“Dannie coming back to school?” Harry asks Benni who shakes her head.

“No, she’s going to come back next year, not quite ready to face it all again after everything that’s happened.”

“Well if she’s looking for a friend during that time,” Lillie tells Benni, “I’d be happy to wolf-talk with her.”

Benni smiles, “That would actually be really great.”

“Oh, speaking of things that would be great!” Bridget suddenly exclaims excitably, almost knocking her child over in the process. Remus and Peter let out identical sighs at that. “Well, actually two things. Number one, Del, Re tells me you’re good with wands.” Del nods. “How would you like a job? I’m opening up a wand section to my store.”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Bridget grins, “Great. Also, a few of you already know but we haven’t actually made an announcement as such. But Pete and I are getting married.”

“Oh, Merlin!” Pansy comments, a wide smile on her face. Many congratulations are given. 

“Oh, and Dad got offered a job at the Ministry!” Hermione remembers, Sirius smiling and nodding happily.

“And we…we get to go back to school,” Ron adds, earning a groan from several students.

“Hey, you’ve only got a year left,” George reminds them.

Harry sighs, holding Delphini’s hand. “A year is a long time.”

“I can bring her to Hogsmeade to see you on Hogsmeade weekends?” Tom offers to Harry who smiles blindingly at him.

“Thank you, Father.” Tom smiles back and nods.

“Father would have been proud of this world,” Draco says. Hermione takes her brother’s hand comfortingly.

“Yes, yes he would have been,” Severus agrees, a moment of silence following his words.

“That reminds me,” Sirius begins, looking to Draco, “I never did thank you for your help back when I first escaped.”

Draco smiles, “There was no need.”

“Because the only reason you did it is because you owed me?” Jamie asks, Draco rolls his eyes and throws a pillow at her.

“Yes, how did you owe her a favour of ‘similar magnitude’?” Harry asks him curiously.

Jamie fidgets slightly, Draco picking at the carpet. Remus narrows his eyes at both of them.

“So I kinda knew about Uncle Lu’s plans after Aunt Cissa died,” Jamie admits.

“What plans?” Remus asks her.

Draco winces, “Father tried to kill a bunch of people, it’s a long story.”

Remus isn’t quite sure how to react to that and just shakes his head. Then he looks over to Severus, “We stopped your visions, of the battle and of the duel between Sirius and Moony,” Remus realises.

Severus smiles, nodding and looking relieved, “I’ve never been more glad to be wrong.”

Harry knocks at the door of a seemingly ordinary house, Lillie by his side. There’s one more thing that Harry needs to take care of before he can put all of this to rest and move on with his life.

The door opens to reveal Albus Dumbledore, looking _really_ damned weird in Muggle Clothing.

“Harry…this is a surprise,” Albus tells him.

“No it isn’t,” Harry replies.

Albus chuckles, “No, it isn’t.” He moves aside, gesturing for Harry and Lillie to come in. “How did they react when you told them who you are?”

“I made the front page, again,” Harry answers, looking around the room. Harry sighs, “I had intended to kill you. The world was supposed to reject you so they wouldn’t care when you died.”

“Have you come to do so, then?” Albus asks him.

Harry shakes his head. “No, the others were right. The point of this was to stop pointless death, I won’t add to it.” He looks to Dumbledore, “Actually, I’ve come to save your life.”

Albus looks to him in confusion, Harry nods to the arm the curse from the ring is growing on. “How do you intend to do that?” Albus asks. He’d accepted his fate when Moony died, knowing no other Werewolf who would be willing to help.

“That would be where I come in to things,” Lillie explains, giving a wolfish grin. She steps forward, “May I?” Albus nods, holding out his hand. Lillie takes it, pulling on the power of the wolf within her and using the primal magic it creates. She directs it to the curse, _“Heal_ ” She whispers. Blue sparks start at Dumbledore’s finger tips, moving up the hand, cleansing him of the curse as it goes before fading away.

“Thank you,” He tells her, she nods and steps away. Albus looks back to Harry, “I must admit, I’m surprised you would bother to do so, all things considered.”

“I don’t think you’re a bad person,” Harry tells him, “But bad things happened because of you and that still requires action.”

Albus nods, “I’m not entirely sure that I disagree with you. As I told your mother many years ago, Hogwarts has always been a place where people can get help. I do hope it will continue to be.”

“They put Professor McGonagall in charge, I’m not worried,” Harry replies dryly. 

Albus chuckles nodding. “Why did you do it, Harry? Why go through all of this?”

Harry frowns at that. “Pansy asked me what I intended to do with my life once all this is over, and the answer was that I want to live it. You were never going to give me that option.”

Once more, Albus nods. “I hope you find the life you wanted, Harry.”

Harry smiles, “I already have.”

After heading back to school, being shocked at the change in houses (well, Harry not so much but it was still weird), clapping and cheering so much everyone’s hands hurt when Remus’ re-appointment was announced, getting used to the new Transfiguration Professor who Harry has never heard of before, and finally finishing the year, the students are back on the train home.

“Well, Dumbledore’s gone, year’s over. So…is that just it?” Ron asks his friends.

Harry smiles as he looks out the window.

“Yeah, it’s over.”

24th December 2001

Sirius sits reading the paper at his kitchen island, drinking coffee. It’s quiet in the house, Remus and Benni out shopping for last minute Christmas Presents.

As Sirius reads the headline for that day, he starts to wonder why it is this world can never catch a damned break.

**_Crazed Teenager Escapes Azkaban_ **

Sirius looks at the picture of said teenager and his eyes widen. He may never have seen this kid before. But he knows his twin. And he knows that this is Sevrin Lupin.

“Oh, shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy fuck. 4 years. 4 damned years, two prequels, and several side stories. And it’s finally written.
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who has read this series. Yes, there is another, though it won’t take 4 years to write, I’m 100%. I have just started Uni this year though and I hear it only gets harder as time goes on, I’ve certainly found it difficult so far to find time to write. Never-the-less I will finish this series if it kills me and I’ve been planning the sequel to this story since I first started writing it in 2016.
> 
> Anyways, enough of my jabber. Just, honestly, I really hope you enjoyed it and that anyone who loved The Boy Who Never Cried Wolf wasn’t too let down by this continuation.
> 
> Thank you 😊


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